The cultural and developmental aspects of American history in the 17th and 18th centuries are certainly among the most important and influential factors in the shaping of this country’s long and storied history. Historiographically speaking, there are undoubtedly thousands upon thousands of different studies and opinions on the most influential cultural strides of early Americans well as the pros and cons that each colonial region developed in shaping America and readying it for the Revolutionary Era. Each of these four studies brings a slightly different and even, at times, conflicting approach to analyzing the cultural and social roots of early America, but each one provides a fresh perspective that enhances the idea that America is a true “melting pot” of ideas, social values, and cultural traits.
Zuckerman, in his article, focuses his attention on the middle colonies and the erroneous tendencies of historians to ignore controversial or pertinent historical issues in favor of obvious, harmless social arguments. Historians have focused on New England as the true “birthplace of America” because of its early literature and thought that focused solely on Puritanism, and therefore offered an obvious and easy starting point with which to measure the region’s cultural metamorphasis. Read more…
St. Jerome in his Study is a profoundly detailed engraving by Albrecht Durer. I personally like this print because it so detailed at every point. I also appreciate the picture due to the quality of craftsmanship required to complete something of the engraving’s magnitude. Engraving at this time was limited to two colors black and white. Using two colors limits different color and light in the print. This Print reminds me of my own scholastic environment. I need a place to study that is unique to my own comfort. Durer attempts to depict St. Jerome’s personal study, with random tools and attributes placed uniquely all around.
I don’t have attributes, because obviously I am no saint, however I do have a certain things that I enjoy listening too or looking at while I am reading, studying, researching, or just relaxing. Just like St. Jerome I have my bed and many pillows in my study. This piece in my mind brought comparison between a study now in the 21st century compared to a 4th century study in a 16th century architectural structure. I personally feel the artist of the engraving put certain objects in certain places to give the depiction of St. Jerome studying in his study. The attributes and objects are uniquely his own. The study in this print looks as if it may be a corner of larger room because the shelf on the back wall cuts off; but the wall could continue. Also on the bottom left of the print there is a big cement pillar, when looking carefully at the bottom left corner there is symmetrically equal shading across the pillar. Suggesting there is another window directly on the left right before the pillar. The stair case could just be and entrance way from another room. It is hard to determine because of the color and shade is not one hundred percent distinct Engravings like this leave a lot of space for interpretation due to the contrasting problems between light and color. Read more…
The most extraordinary aspect to Andy Warhol’s famous painting of Marilyn Monroe’s face is how he forms his own version of her. Marilyn Monroe’s face is very recognizable, and almost everyone knows what she looks like. Warhol succeeds in taking a famous face, and recreating it according to his own style.
The first thing I see when I look at this painting is large areas of colors. I see a green background, bright yellow hair, a pink face, green eye shadow, yellow eyes, red lips, a green mole, and a red area that appears to be her shirt. The second thing I see when I look at the poster again is black. I see black shading in the hair and around the face, black shading that creates the eyes, eyebrows and nose, black shading in the lips, and a black mole inside the green one. Read more…
Now resident in France Tadeus Jaroszynski work has always been pitched somewhere within his European roots and his years spent in South Africa. Born in Yugoslavia to Polish Finnish parents; Jaroszynski received his training as an artist in Helsinki where he also met his wife Karin. They subsequently relocated to South Africa in the late 1950’s, where they carved out a unique artist’s niche for themselves.
Flooded with a gentle melancholia and nostalgia that is associated with the artists Eastern European past, and a quality of light, colour and form that is reminiscent of the Northern European painting tradition, these figures stand before a luminous karoo landscape with a single windmill. But their gazes are averted from the landscape, suggesting that it is not the site of their meditative attention, but that they are recalling or dreaming of other places and other times.
Walking into the Oppenheimer library in the University of Cape Town two things are noticeable. Firstly, the fact that the old architecture outside masks the freshly painted, “new” finish of a place that holds such much intellectual content brought together over a considerable period of time. Secondly, the fact that this area is surrounded by a relatively vast art collection. Read more…
What is dance and how does it relate to language? Dance is the “artistic form of nonverbal communication” while language is “the mental form of verbal communication”. From this, we know that dance and language are both forms of communication. The only difference is that dance is non-verbal and language is verbal. Although, if language is strictly verbal, then why is the way mute or deaf people communicate called Sign Language? If movement of the hands to convey a message is called Sign Language then why not consider dance as language since it also conveys a message not only through hand movements but through body movements as well.
Dance is an important part of every culture. During the early days, ancient people used dance to communicate to the highest beings. For example, the natives performed rain dance to ask the gods for a good harvest by giving them rain and they dance again to thank the gods after a good harvest. Why not just say it aloud like what most people do in houses of worship nowadays? It is probably because they think that dance is the highest and most powerful form of communication. They reserved dance for sacred purposes only. As time went on and civilizations arose, dance has served many other functions. For the African slaves, there was a time when they were prohibited to speak especially about their culture. Almost all of them were uneducated and so they did not know how to write. They used dance as a very important tool to preserve and pass on their culture to the next generations. Read more…
