Academic-Capital

If you seek a spectacular sunset reenacted on canvas you shouldn’t miss V enice at Dusk or San Giorgio Maggiore al Crepuscolo painted by French Impressionist Claude Monet. The work was finished in 1908 with 37 others in the ancient city of Venice Italy.   Monet did not feel that his paintings were that great and had significant self-doubt about is work but they nevertheless became well known.  He wrote to an art seller about that doubt , " Although I am enthusiastic about Venice, and though I've started a few canvases, I'm afraid I will only bring back beginnings that will be nothing else but souvenirs for me " ( 1 ). Despite his yearnings to quit Monet continued to paint each and every day completing a number of great masterpieces. His works are known for their simplicity and eloquence that many other painters seem to forget in forging their works.  The painting is of a sunset behind San Giorgio Maggiore the sanctuary and monastery ( 2 ). Colors

The painting on the Road to Tarascon is a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh traveling with its artwork in 1888. It was seen as a lost masterpiece and a rare glimpse into van Gogh’s life as an individualist and a traveling painter. To him real painters don’t paint things how they are but they do paint them as they feel they are. Francis Bacon thought it was a haunting painting of van Gogh as an outsider to the world.  Even though the artist is alone, hot, and following a path between Arles and Tarascon he will be meeting his friend Paul Gauguin in less than a month. Within a year of this time he had a seizure and within two years sold his first piece of artwork. With all of his life’s happenings his dark shadow indicates his only true friend is himself.  The Nazi’s removed and destroyed the art as a degenerate for their culture. It was believed, at that time in history, that anyone not part of the overall Germanic bloodlines created art that was insulting to religion, Germ

1888-Starry Night Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is a depiction of a village in a whistling night. The swirls are designed to ensure the viewers eyes move around the picture and create a point-to-point effect.   It was a surreal painting designed to enhance the overall senses drawn from the picture. He purposely used things like lines where shadows would have been more correct and bright yellow stars where only small figure was needed.  Some have argued that the peaceful village and stormy night are dichotomies. One offers safety and protection with inviting lights in the window. The night is uninviting, interesting, but wholly a wild place. As with all art, there are psychological interpretations that include his feelings and inner conflicts are expressed onto the painting. A few have argued he suffered from lead poisoning changing his perception. The Cyprus brush is right in front of the viewer and sort of distorts the view. Analysts believe that the author is expre

The subject of the painting was taken from the Apocryphal Book of Tobit. Tobit was a wealthy and strict adherent to Mosaic Law. He lost all of his money and was blinded by an accident. The wife went to work sewing and washing to support the family. She brought home a kid goat and Tobit accused her of stealing it. She chastised him for his self-righteousness and frees him from his limited thinking. Later their fortunes are restored by the efforts of their son and his eyes fixed from blindness from fish entrails. The painting helps us think about how even from the lowest depths man’s lot can change. It is difficult for us to judge others with any real sense of accuracy. To do so requires the ability to weigh and balance all of the possible reasons and justifications. Unfortunately, many of us make the fatal mistake of using self-righteousness to make ourselves look better than and more moral than others. In this case, freeing himself from his narrow thinking also freed him to i

The Potato Eaters-1885 The Potato Eaters presents five figures of which three are females and two are males. One of which appears to be younger than the others and standing before her family. The meal is simple consisting of baked potatoes without any type of dressing. Spices were expensive and imported from other areas.  This meal was a regular staple for people who did not have the access to the refrigerated varieties we have today. The other woman is serving coffee for the group through cheap cups and a pot. You can see the conversation within the picture as the family discusses their daily happenings. One might be talking about the hens and the other about the saving of seeds. Their lives consumed them and filled up their conversational needs. It was all about survival. The colors are dark which gives the painting a dark and dirty look. On the ceiling is a single hanging lamp that brightens the families faces. Even though each female is wearing drab clothing and a b