Art Appreciation

There are a lot of memorable High Renaissance art works like Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", Michelangelo's "La Pieta" or "David" but since the museums that those art pieces are being displayed in are not included here I went with this equally memorable piece of High Renaissance art "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli from the Uffizi Gallery.

Mannerism is the period between High Renaissance and Baroque this is an example painting representative of this period from London's Tate Gallery.

Expressionism The Art Institute of Chicago This is an era I still am confused about. Yes the name is pretty self explanatory maybe it is a form of grand expression and mostly a "self" expression at that, at least the way I see it. But for some reason it doesn't leave me in awe as much as the Impressionists I guess.

Post Impressionism Musée D'Orsay Another Artist to see the works of, at the top of my must see list The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Altough I've seen this one in D'Orsay.

Impressionism Musée D'Orsay The play of "light" in this painting blows my mind! :D

Realism Musée D'Orsay You almost want to help the hard working ladies, you know give them a hand, they look that "real" :D

Pop Art The Art Institute of Chicago

Cubism Museo Reina Sofia

Post Impressionism The Art Institute of Chicago My friend who was majoring in art at the time we've visited Paris together was talking about Lautrec's work very highly and I2m sure we've seen examples of his work at the time in one of the countless museums we've visited when we were there but I can't seem to remember. This shows I have a long way to go in terms of properly appreciating art. She would kill me if I told her I don't remember and would start going on and on about his works. I kind of wish she was here right now to help me remember :D

Realism Musée D'Orsay I picked these two masterpieces by Rodin because as someone who actually had witnessed their glory in person I am in awe of them now as much as I was in awe of them in 2005 The amount of detail in every single piece of this giant sculpture is breath-taking.

Realism The National Museum of Western Art I had to explore out of the list of museums that was given to us for the assignment because of the significance of the art works I found in museums like Muséee D'Orsay and this one The National Museum of Western Art. There is also the fact that I was very surprised to find out that Louvre museum is not included in this website.

Surrealism SCAD Museum of Art Not so much of a piece that represents Dali's magnificient style but I had to include him. This is the one art work I chose out of very limited options.

The artist El Greco belongs to Spanish Renaissance and reflects elements of Mannerism in his paintings. I wanted to give examples of artists from different origins in order not to restrict myself with Italian artists only this is why I chose this art work.

Cubism Museum Kampa Since this site is also lacking Picasso's excellent examples of Cubism I had to improvise. My choice of works examplifying Cubism is also from various museums outside the given original list.

Baroque The Art Institute of Chicago When I searched Rinaldo and Armida I found out that they are characters created by an Italian "poet" Torquato Tassoin his epic "Gerusalemme Liberata". I should have known better. A scene as magical and enchanting as this one could only be a depiction of a poet's exquisite work. :)

Realism Musée D'Orsay Musée D'Orsay is another museum I had the privilage of exploring and after Rodin's works I've seen which was then called Rodin Museum this was my second favorite and much more impressive in my opinion of course than the Louvre for some reason. Maybe because I enjoy Impressionist works greatly and I had a chance to explore great representatives of this era such as Monet, Manet and Renoir all in one place. That was unforgettable for me.

Post Impressionism MoMA Museum of Modern Art I chose this painting because it stood out in a big way from the rest of the Post Impressionist works I2ve explored in terms of the feel of it. It almost looks "surreal".

Abstract Expressionism The Art Institute of Chicago I was never the one who could make sense of the "abstract" works. It is not very different in this case as well. I don't have the slightest idea what this art piece represents. I enjoy the color harmony though.

Impressionism Musée D'Orsay Monet I think hands down is my favorite. I feel like every single one of his paintings open doors to another world that he creates. Each and every one of them look like windows looking into a scene from that world where colors blend in with each other in splendid harmony then fade away... His works always manage to transport me to that world.

Baroque Uffizi Gallery Caravaggio was the epitome of Baroque period. His depiction of the God of Wine and extacy and irrationality is so life like that I think the observers of his works think if they can actually witness this Greek diety he will look like this or maybe it's just me who thinks this way! If I can fullfill my biggest dream in terms of travelling the world my first and longest stop will be Italy. I'd see every inch of that country! and the Uffizi Gallery of course.

Post Impressionism MoMA Museum of Modern Art I'm actually one of the privilaged bunch to see MoMa and Met in NY. This is why I wanted to include this piece of Cézanne's work here as a representative of Post Impressionistic period.

Neoclassicism The J. Paul Getty Museum I included the Getty museum in here because when I was doing the summer programme in UCLA for six weeks in the summer of 2004 this museum was very close to my dorms and it was my idea of a weekend get away. There are various galleries and each weekend I was there I went back and explored a new one. I was 21 back then and maybe not old enough to appreciate the art work properly but I loved the atmosphere of that place. This painting is depicting a scene from "The Odyssey" by Homer. This is the book we've spent half a semester analysing in Classical Tradition Class and the extremely life-like depiction and the presence of so much "light" on the canvas is what draws me to this piece.

Expressionism The Art Institute of Chicago This might be the museum that got away! I was in Chicago but neglected to go and appreciate the beauty of this place. It's definitely at the top of my to do list next time I go there.

Romanticism The J. Paul Getty Museum What is romanticism without the "lovers". :)

Romanticism Musée D'orsay This resembles an Impressionist piece of art . I may be way off on this but this is how I see it. Delacroix's work has the unique blending of colors as well. The subjects that he uses might belong to the Romantic period but he sure has a familiar style.