- Sol LeWitt, “Wall Drawing #1113: On a wall, a triangle within a rectangle, each with broken bends of color”.
Sol LeWitt is a famous American artist. His name is associated with Minimalism and Conceptualism Art. Actually, he is considered to be the founder of both these art movements. He was born in 1928 in Hartford, Connecticut, studied in Syracuse University and the New York School of Visual Arts. In his creativity he was influenced by his previous job as a graphic designer and by the works of photographer Eadweard Muybridge. According to the Conceptualism theory, the concept was the primary thing and the actual finished piece was of secondary importance (Shea, 2008).
LeWitt is famous for his wall drawings. These are two-dimensional pictures done with different materials such as ink, acrylic, crayon etc. Each of the pictures contains vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. According to the principle, LeWitt’s drawings are executed by his assistants. The artist believed that every person draws his or her special line and in his or her special way. The Wall Drawing #1113 is actually painted by Patrick Burns, Stevens Jay Carter, Larry Colbert, Megan Dyer, Joy Hayes, Tomas Ramberg, and Michelle Talibah. It is done in acrylic. The picture was finished in 2003, four years before the artist’s death. The drawing shows a triangle within a rectangular. The picture is very colorful: green, yellow, violet, blue, red, and orange stripes cut the whole drawing. Every line is broken and consists of several sections, each of different color. The picture seems to be very simple but simple things usually hide the deepest sense. This one reminds about the rainbow, which is the destructed light and the picture of harmony at the same time.
- Pablo Picasso, “Harlequin Musician, 1924”.
The name of Pablo Picasso is famous worldwide. Needless to say that everybody, who is at least a little bit interested in visual arts, heard it many times. He was a well known sculptor, painter, and stage designer of Spanish origin who spent most of his life in France. He was also one of the most influential and potent artists in Europe in the 20th century. He was not only a co-founder of Cubism and co-inventor of collage but also an artist with clear civil position, which he defended in his pictures. For example, with one of the most recognizable painting of the 20th century title Guenica he expressed his attitude to the Spanish Civil War and the horror of violence as a whole.
The picture Harlequin Musician was painted with oil on canvas in 1924. It was the period in Picasso’s life when he found himself in Cubism. The image of harlequin was a recurrent figure in the works of the artist (Italy Magazine). In some way, it was a symbol of Picasso. Harlequins are comedic characters in funny clothes which staged in circus since the Middle Ages. The Picasso’s Harlequin Musician, 1924 represents an image of singer and guitar player. He has his instrument in his hands and plays it. The Cubist manner helped Picasso to show the peculiarities of harlequin’s clothes, which usually consisted of different pieces of fabric. The picture is bright and optimistic. Despite the grey colors of armchair, the harlequin is sitting in, the painting is full of lively colors represented by the clothes of the character. The face of harlequin is not clear but his posture and right hand indicate that he is playing guitar and enjoying the process.
- Georgia O’Keeffe, “Jack in the Pulpit N o. V”, 1930.
Georgia O’Keeffe was an American female artist. He created her pictures in the first half of the 20th century. She made a long route to become a painter. First, she studied in Wisconsin and then at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Art Students League in New York. The young artist even succeeded and won the prize for the best still-life picture. But then she left painting for four years because she could not find her own way in art. Then she started painting again. At one of the exhibitions she met Alfred Stieglitz, the photographer. They were deeply in love with each other and later married in 1918. First, relations did not seem to influence each other creativity but because of her husband O’Keeffe met many famous artists of that time. She was influenced by the Precisionist movement and made many of her drawings in that style.
The drawing Jack in the Pulpit No.V is one of the pictures made in the precisionists’ style. The flower is made with the thorough carefulness of a biologist. The painting looks like a real flower enlarged by a magnifying glass. The flower dazzles. The spectator is looking more and precisely on the painting and each time finds new details. The colors are natural and calming. It seems that the artist found the harmony with nature and was inspired by it.
References
Shea, A. (2008). Conceptualizing Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawings”. NPR. Retrieved from
