Sample Essay On Thought On Arts

Shomei Tomatsu’s black and white untitled photograph attempts to tell the audience the horrific repercussions of the Second World War II especially on the human life. On this picture, the photographer depicted a man emerging from the shadows, his face covered with wrinkled skin the rest of his face was hidden from plain sight but from the looks of his face, the audience can tell how great the damage brought by the atomic bomb blast on his face. The nuclear attack which destroyed nearly half of his face managed to create a large keloid scar on the right side of his face. In this image, chiaroscuro plays an important role in highlighting image to appear more grotesque and horrifying; the sideways glance allowed the most direct portrayal of the extent of damage brought by the nuclear explosion on the skin of the victim. Despite the fact that the rest of the face is hidden in blackness, the minimal light from the right side of the studio created the most dramatic portrayal heightening the horrific portrayal of the wounded man in the aftermath of the world war. What Tomatsu implicitly states using this image was the unspoken history of the innocent Japanese civilians who became the target of the struggle for power between two countries; it was not the government who suffered the heavy damage at all for the Japanese Imperial family had been protected by the walls of the Imperial palace, but it was the ordinary people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who suffered the great damage over the act they did not committed.
The next photograph details the sunrise as viewed from the Northport Harbor created in 1929. Somehow this image attempts to simplify the image and mimic the styles of the Japanese ukiyo-e prints noted for its colors. The tints used on the image were monochrome colors and the artist’s skill in contrasting light and dark pigments to create a three dimensional perspective can be seen on the color contrasts on the mountains, the sky, and the fog that covers half of the view from the harbor. Graceful curved lines depicting the clouds and mountains illustrate the simple beauty derived from minimal portrayals of the objects from nature, by reducing the iconography from mere representations, the artist managed to capture only the impression of the scenery from his perspective. Overlapping space is present on the image especially the figures of the mountains, fog, and the finally the straight line of the ocean waters all of them overlap each other to illustrate the illusion of distance as seen from the harbor.
Meanwhile Leighton’s After Vespers presents a painting of a young woman clad in lime green Victorian style gown taffeta, her hair knotted in an elegant bun. The woman was probably belonging from an aristocratic or bourgeoisie family due to the presence of golden earrings and decorative hairpins on top of her hair, as well as necklace with elaborate designs. The background in which she stands appears to be a part of the church. The colors were muted with the inclusion of chiaroscuro to illustrate the illusion of depth, this can be seen on the half-dome on the background, light and dark yellow pigments were combined by the artist and painted on the spot where it receives the minimal light while the rest was painted in bright yellow. The lines were relaxed and derived from natural setting, except for the geometric line designs that appear on the thin church columns on the background. The repetition of abstract design can be seen on the half-dome, the thin column on the right panel, and on the upper right portion of the dome, the part that covers the half-dome from the outside. The woman’s face projects a melancholic expression; various interpretations can formulated, probably the woman must have ordered the artist to create this painting of her as a symbol of her sadness for her unrequited love, most probably due to the differences on social standing, probably the man she loves was rather too poor to marry her or it might be that her status did not allow her to marry a man beyond her social circle. In any way, the painting’s controversial nature especially the identity of the young woman is left open for various interpretations. Lastly, the black and white painting from the 1850s titled The Sower looked like a solitary film still due to the heavy realism on the iconography. From a distance, the image is akin to a black and white daguerreotype photo; the image depicts a young woman engrossed in doing her tasks as a sower. The chiaroscuro further heightened the artistic portrayal of the actions and the heavy contrasts of shadow and light created the visually acceptable yet solitary image a peasant woman engaged in doing daily tasks, unmindful of the environment. What Millet attempts to capture in this painting was the life of the people during the late 19th century, in a way, he recorded a copy for future generation of what life looked like for ordinary people beyond the enigmatic social circle of the rich men and women. Somehow, this painting was a parody of the impressive portrait paintings of the aristocrat since this focuses on portraying the real image of the woman, the flexing of muscles, and the ordinary farming garb she wore as she perform the tasks.
As a conclusion, art can be a tool for artists to record their feelings, thoughts, emotions, and elaborate the time period they once lived. Through this paintings and photographs, the audiences can get the experience of what life actually looked like back then during the late 19th centuries or in the aftermath of the war.