Visual Analysis

Introduction

The painting selected from the beautiful collection of Renaissance and Rococo paintings at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus is the Pereira Man Machine (1936) shown in the figure 1 below. The painting is believed to be the work of an American geometric abstract artist, Irene Rice Pereira (1902 –1971). Pereira who studied at the Art students’ league and completed her studies in 1931, after which she embarked on a trip to Europe and North Africa. In the voyage, she studied at the Academie Moderne from where she got the encouragement to do a series of paintings of machine-made objects that included generators, funnels, and ventilators. One of the most breathtaking paintings is the Pereira Man Machine 1(1936). The second drawing is the Park Ethiopia (1959) that is compared with the Pereira Man Machine painting. The visual analysis extensively focuses on stylistic features such as composition, color, use of light/shadow, perspective, figures, pose, gestures, etc. The painting has several visible features.

Figure 1: Pereira_Man___Machine__1_1936

Figure 2: Park_Ethiopia_1959

Rococo was a distinctive style of art, architecture, music and literature that occurred during the eighteenth century in Europe. The Rococo painting originated in the early 18th century in Paris during the French revolution and got characterized by soft colors and curvy lines and also showed senses of love, nature, light-hearted entertainment, youth and amorous encounters. The name Rococo combines both Rocaille and Barocco, Italian for Baroque. The Rococo figure painting was characterized by the painter's use of brushstrokes, the softness of palette as well as delicate color harmonies whose goal is to seduce the eye.

The Renaissance art period is regarded as the historical time that marked the cultural bridging between the middle ages and modern history in European and occurred from the 14th to the 17th century. The main distinguishing feature of the Renaissance art was that the paintings created during that period were of a more realistic linear perspective. The Renaissance period gets represented through paintings, architecture, sculpture and other decorative artistic works. The name originated during the period in which European regions gained an interest in learning about classical Roman and Greek culture. The Renaissance period was highlighted by masters who included Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Pereira Man Machine painting is oil on canvas art of dimensions 35 by 48 inches. Canvas panels get preferred by artists because they are rigid, lightweight, as well as are a less bulky alternative for painting excursions. Canvas panels exist in different materials that include cotton, linen or polyester, primed or unprimed. The texture of canvas used also varies between ultrasmooth to coarse. The painting shows three male figures who struggle against the weight of their mechanical burdens, driven by the relentless belts and pulleys of modern factories. One of the male characters carries a heavy blue sphere that alternately suggests an ocean-filled globe borne by a laboring Atlas or the metallic surface of a bomb with its as yet unlit fuse snaking around a nearby conveyor belt and platform ladder. In the painting, Pereira may have been inspired by the ability that man was making machine larger and larger, however as it enlarged it was becoming difficult for him to control it. The growing use of machines and making machines bigger during that time is symbolized by the senseless assembly of rods, wheels, levers and gears. The use of symbols allows the painter to not to attempt to use definite machines in the painting and at the same time passing the message and concept of understanding the functions and social influence of the introduction of machines. The inability of man to control the machines is symbolized by the disembodied legs and hands of the human figures in the art that protrude at tortured angles. If the trip that she went to Britain and North Africa and it was during the period of industrialization, Pereira was inspired by the loss of jobs due to increased use of machines. It implied that man was losing the control and struggle against the unchecked power of machines. The composition of the painting signifies the meaning of the art as drawn by Periera. The art also has symbols that evoke plus and minus indicators of electrical charge in circuit diagrams. The form of the human figures resembles the cross-section of automotive piston housing and has two rings held in equipoised position by a discontinuous larger ring. The art also equalizes and synthesizes all the potentially conflicting forces into a harmonious whole.

The painting is drawn using various colors that include blue, red, orange, gray, brown, white, yellow, etc. The use of these delicate colors decorates the canvas as well as precisely distinguishes each item in the crowded painting. It was a Rococo tradition to use soft pastel colors to render the landscape smoky and hazy. The painter most probably established the local color during that period and painted it using a large brush. A smaller brush is then used to add the shadows in the painting to add aesthetic features. The use of light and shadow is proper used. The light is used to show shiny surfaces of the machine front view whereas the shadows are employed by the painter to show the sides. Color plays a critical role in explaining a different period in human history. The use of color on canvas is preferable compared to other painting styles because it is light and less vulnerable to damage.

The artist of the painting uses curves distinctively to show figures in the painting. The three male figures are clearly shown by the use of curves to show their bulging muscles. The curves on their hands and legs clearly distinguish them from female figures. The fanciful curves also were used by the painter to show the inner surface of the hollow object that is placed at the center of the painting. This stylistic feature was very common among artists during the Rococo period. The use of curves, same as the usage of pale colors was employed in the decoration of architectural designs and structures during the Rococo period.

The Pereira man-machine art is significant and fists in the Renaissance art period. The painting shows the functions of the introduction of machines into the world during this time as well as its social influence. The painting fits this period since it integrates numerous characteristics used by artists in the Renaissance era. The Renaissance period focused on capturing the experience of people and the beauty or mystery of nature in that era in art, literature or music. The painting can also be classified among the Renaissance paintings since the Renaissance arts were more realistic compared to other historical arts.

The Park Ethiopia figure is also drawn on an oil canvas. The painting shows four human figures; in which three are male figures and one a female figure. The people in the art can well be distinguished by the colors selected by the painter as well as the features. The figures in the painting seem to be engaged in a normal chat. Although the painting does not use light and shadow as well as the Pereira man-machine painting, it uses color to distinguish features in the painting. The colors used by the artists in the painting include yellow, red, green, and black.

The Park Ethiopia painting fits in the Rococo art period. The paintings in this Rococo era were characterized by soft colors and curvy lines and captures scenes of nature, love, light-hearted entertainment, amorous encounters, and youth. The Park painting captures a scene in which the figures who are young men and a woman are having a conversation. Another distinguishing feature of the Park Ethiopia is the use of painterly brushstroke common in Rococo paintings.

Comparing the Park Ethiopia painting and the Pereira man-machine painting clearing shows a distinction between the 3-D and 2-D as displayed by the two arts. The painter of the Pereira man-machine art used to shape, curve, and color to show three dimension features of the painting in which the human figures are working. The painter of the Park Ethiopia painting shows two-dimension features by using color and saturation. The Pereira art displays larger hands of the human figures signifying a lot of work, whereas the Park Ethiopia art has a uniform display of all human figures in the painting. The Park Ethiopia artist used a large brush unlike the painter of the Pereira man-machine painting who combined a large and a small brush to show both fine details and large figures. The two paintings also differ in gestures of the human figures hence clearly differentiating the engagement they were involved. In the Pereira man-machine, the gestures of the human figures show men who are struggling to work (lift, carry or push) machines, whereas in the park Ethiopia painting, the figures are relaxed. The only gesture notable in the Park Ethiopia art is the male figure in the painting that is holding his head, signifying s person in deep thoughts. Unlike, the Pereira painting that used shiny blue color to display the landscape of the blue of the sky; the Park Ethiopia used dark colors that can hardly tell the background of the painting. The composition of the Park Ethiopia and the Pereira man-machine painting is clearly shown using various elements of design that include color, texture, tone, shape and form.

Conclusion

The Renaissance period and the Rococo painting era are very significant in the evolvement of art as well as in the history of art. The Pereira man-machine painting is essential in showing the industrialization period as well as the social influence of machines to people. The painting is classified in the Renaissance era painting due to similar characteristics such as using a realistic perspective and use of light and shadows. The Park Ethiopia painting fits in the Rococo painting era that was characterized by capturing scenes of nature, love, light-hearted entertainment, amorous encounters as well as young people.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in college research paper services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for best essay services online.