Art

Task 1: The Aspect of Stillness in Art from the 19th Century
Entry 1

Realism was a new style of art which sprouted in the mid of the 19th Century. Realist painters differed from the Romantic art ways where scenes mostly depicted a pleasant, harmonious ambient, where everyone in the work of art seemed to be happy and is not effected by the problems of life. The Realist knew what was going on behind the appearances kept by the people of the time and they wanted to put it out to be seen by those who wanted to believe that life was a breeze and all things where perfect.

One of these Realist artist was Luke Fildes who, together with his companions Hubert von Herknmer and Frank Holl, was influenced by the leader of social realism himself; Fredrick Walker. This influence is greatly recorded and can be appreciated in his painting The Doctor pained in 1887.

Luke Fildes, 1874, The Doctor, < http://iamachild.wordpress.com/category/fildes-luke/ > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013]
Throughout this painting the presence of a sense of stillness can be felt strongly. The strongest element which reflects this sense of stillness is the dead little girl lying on the cushions on the chairs in the middle of the picture. Her hanging hand and pale skin tone dive of the idea of death and rest, which in turn sets the mood of the entire picture. The startling gaze of the doctor is also still, as if he has no clue to what could have caused such a terrible lose to this family. Coming to the family the mother can be seen mourning on the table, crying her hearth out in the loose of her young daughter, while her husband is comforting her while he himself if on the edge of giving in to the sadness, yet he tries his best to stay strong and manage the situation in the house from the side of the picture.

Apart from the characters that are showing the stillness and sadness in the picture, Fildes also uses the surroundings to communicate this. Looking at the clothes hanging on the washing like we the viewers can also feel the atmosphere intended by the painting. This is so by the way they are hung; they seem to be thorn and saggy and also seem to be unaffected by anything, such as wind, making all the cloths fall down vertically like a line of solders during a state funeral. The still posture of the clothes is joined by the bird in the cage hung in the window. Its posture is a still one who anyone who have ever owned a bird knows that a bird can stay at the position shown in the painting for hours without moving. Also the presence of objects, like the pestle of mortal, the jug and the mug on the table along with the bottle of medicine, that have been used but left out continue to strengthen the stillness in the moment depicted in the painting.

This effect of stillness is also depicted in other paintings by Luke Fildes. He has also expressed this mood in the paintings; Applicants to a Casual Ward (1874) [1] and The Widower (1870) [2] amongst others with similar themes.

                                                      [1]                                                                                                         [2]
Luke Fildes, 1870, The Widower, < http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jfildes.htm > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013]
Luke Fildes, 1874, Applicants to a Casual Ward, < http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jfildes.htm > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013]
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Entry 2
Luke Fildes was only one of the Realist painters who throughout their paintings show a sense of stillness in their paintings. Gustave Courbet is a major realist artist from the Victorian era and in his painting he shows the reality of everyday life and shows 'defects' usually hidden by Romantic artists of the time. In his painting The Fishing Boat painted in 1865, Courbet shows a reality that is not usually depicted or given any attention. This painting shows a beached fishing boat boated breaking apart as time takes its toll. The reality shown here is that of a lose experienced by a fisherman after having his craft beached most probably after a high tide, and hence loosing his investment and presumably ending up on the poorer side of society.

Gustave Gorbet, 1865, The Fishing Boat,
 < http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/artsfile/artists/images/Courbet/Courbet066/File1.jpg > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013] 

But the element of stillness is very strong. The leaning of the boat against the stones gives a feel similar to that which a dead body gives, that of restfulness and lack of motion. Also the lacking presence of any animal or person makes the scene look abandoned and not taken care of, and so since the things portrayed are lifeless, the lack of movement is more prominent. The beaching itself continues to communicate stillness since a boat is meant to move on the water but since it is on land it is motionless and still.
This is not the only Realism painting that in just one painting we can find all the aspects of stillness, movement and time. Other examples of such a mixture of aspects are Thomas Eakins' Shade Fishing at Gloucester on the Delaware River [1] and Frank Holl's Newgate: Committed for Trial [2]

                                                     [1]                                                                                                       [2]
Thomas Eakins, 1881, Shad Fishing at Gloucester on the Delaware River,
< http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Eakins_-_Shad_Fishing_at_Gloucester_on_the_Delaware_River.jpg > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013]
Frank Holl, 1878, Newgate: Committed for Trial, < http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jholl.htm > [accessed on 24th Oct. 2013]

Bibliography
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Task 2: Essay

Inspiration from Art

A great way to express ones thoughts, ideas and feeling is by means of colour and lines. Ever since the dawn of man, people have been recording events by means of paintings that we can still see today. Art has also developed greatly and ideas of people have been judge and separated from one an other and interpreted in various ways. Also, artworks have communicated ideas which have been a source of inspiration to other artists and designers of the same period of time or further down the time steam.

This is what is going on in this case. I am looking back at different pieces of fine art from the 19th century till today to continue to develop my final project. Up until now I have a plain chair with room for further development.

In the early 1900s, the Futurist Movement came into being. This movement eventually had a branch in every kind of art, from music to fine art to design. An artist from this movement was no one less then Luigi Russolo. Russolo's artwork that I am looking at is his Dynamic of a Car (1912/13).


Like the rest of the Futurists, Russolo looked at the new improving technologies of the time and was inspired by their motions and speed. In this painting Russolo is depicting the speed of a car as it moves along, spreading the air around it to make room for itself. Russolo achieves this by means of diagonal lines forming arrows showing the direction and the motion of the vehicle.


From this work I am trying to exploit the arrow shape to give more dynamics to the chair in my design and keep things more on the edge.

An other artwork that have been looking at is one from the De Stijl movement. It is Piet Mondrian's Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII (1913).


De Stijl was inspired from diverse movements and art methods that came before it such as Cubism, Supermatisim and Dada. These helped De Stijl create simple looking yet greatly thought through and geometric works like Composition No. II, with Red and Blue (1929) and Tableau No. 2/ Composition No. VII (mentioned above) both by Piet Mondrian.


I am planing to use this last painting (Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII) to give even more dynamic to the final project. Apart from the geometric appearance of the chair which is the project, I am planing to give a simple geometric design on the fabrics which will be covering the seating and cushioning.


I am going to use the arrow shapes from Dynamic of a Car to give shape to the back of the chair. Since the chair would also be able to spring, the movement being implied by the design would not be out of place and hence fit in perfectly. While that covers the back, I would be using the geometric pattern inspired by Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII and Composition No. II, with Red and Blue to create a textured pattern on the single-coloured fabric and, while giving a pattern, I would create a chair that would be able to fit every room simply by changing the colour of the fabric and would not have the pattern causing a problem, although I would consider having a coloured pattern as an optional choice of the client.

A CG sketch of the project

Bibliography
(all accessed on 16th December 2013)
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