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The Big Three

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Country: Mexico     Time Period: 1920-1950 Mexican Muralism In 1910 the Mexican Revolution began against the dictator at the time. The revolution went on for about a decade and it ended dictatorship and established a constitutional republic for Mexico (History). At the end of the revolution, the Mexican government commissioned artists education the public on Mexican History. The three artists that defined Mexican identity through muralism were known as Los Tres Grandes, The Big Three. Individually known as David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, and Jose Clemente Orozco (Bravo). New Democracy by David Siqueiros, 1944, Pyroxylin on Panel, Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City David Alfaro Siqueiros was born December 29, 1896 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Siqueiros went on to fight in the revolution for democracy, he studied art in Europe, and returned to Mexico in 1922 to begin working on commissions from the Mexican Government. New Democracy was painted in a response to the end of fascism during Worl
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Artists Fight Social Injustice During the Civil Rights Era

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 Painting Artist David Driskell was born in Eatonton, Georgia. Driskell earned multiple art degrees, he was trained as a painter and art historian. Driskell began his teaching career in 1955 which carried him through until his retirement in 1998 (McGee). Behold Thy Son by David Driskell, 1956, Oil on Canvas, Smithsonian  In the 1950's, America was experiencing a civil rights movement that would demand social justice for Black Americans and advocate for equal rights. This movement was an inspiration for Driskell's Behold Thy Son . His inspiration for this painting was drawn from the tragic death of Emmett Till. Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. (Cincinnati Art Museum). Emmett was murdered by the family members of a white female store clerk who made false allegations against the teenage boy. The murderers were acquitted by an all white jury (NMAAHC). As Driskell was an art historian, he depicted a scene common to western art, Chri
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Early Modern Anxiety

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  Les Demoiselles d'Avignon , Pablo Picasso, 1907 Oil on Canvas, The Museum of Modern Art Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Andalusia, Spain. Picasso learned art at a very young age as his father was an artist who mentored Picasso and allowed him to travel and study art (Art in Context). During Picasso's time, the world is coming out of the romantic and renaissance period which saw humanism and accuracy in body tones and shape. Advanced knowledge of the human body and math and science have always influenced art, from geometry to the discovery of Pompeii. Picasso received formal training, yet this piece far from represents the lessons of his predecessors. Their painting is of five women at a famous brothel in Barcelona (Art in Context). This painting represents the beginning of an Era. It was an Era where the rules of the previous societies was being thrown out. Picasso isn't representing his subjects in a 3D model with proportionate body parts. The women are fla
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Romantic Era

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Romanticism   The Titan's Goblet  by Thomas Cole, 1833, Oil On Canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas Cole was born February 1, 1801 in Lancashire England but his family later immigrated to the United States (Encyclopedia Britannica). Cole painted this near the end of the Romantic Era. The romantic era artists wanted to elicit emotions steered away from Realism and painted exotic landscapes, magical scenes, and fantasies. Cole used light from the sunset to create a feeling of serenity while bringing us into a mythical scene where a Titan goblet is left to be grown over on earth. The goblet has an array of textures from the soft moss, to the smooth wood, and calm misting water which work together to bring the viewer into a moment in time. The size of the goblet in comparison to the landscape shows how large these Titans must have been and the mountains are pointing upwards as if drawing the eye up towards the light. The bottom on the painting is darker though, the edges of the mo
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Classical Era

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 Morality and the Art of the Classical Era Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher 1750, Oil on Canvas, Fogg Art Museum Madame de Pompadour was the official mistress  of King Louis XV in 18th century France (Harris & Zucker). During this time period, Rococo Art was largely popular. Rococo art was defined by its light subject matter, ornate details, and luxury. In this portrait of Pompadour, there is a sense of frivolity even though she was in an important political position for the time. She is not seen as powerful or strong but represented with soft graceful lines, her skin in porcelain like as she applied her makeup, her clothing is made of expensive lace and she is ornamented with a small portrait of her lover, King Louis XV, on her wrist. Boucher brings the viewer into what could be her private chambers where Pompadour is applying lavish makeup and her table is covered in linens with silk ribbons and flowers. This painting seems to boast of the excess of wealth that was spent
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Baroque Period

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  Judith Slaying Holofernes   by Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Gentileschi's Life Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome, Italy on July 8,1593. Her father, Orazio, was an accomplished painter and responsible for her artistic training. (Biography). When Gentileschi was seventeen years old, she was raped by her father's business partner, Agostino Tassi. Tassi was an artistic mentor to Gentileschi and close friend of her fathers (Camara). This abhorrent attack gave Artemisia the determination that she used to successfully break into the art world dominated by men. She used her experience to shape her paintings and express emotions on a deeper level by often depicting female heroes in her work in a realistic empowering way. Impression Gentileschi is the epitome of Baroque art. As the Renaissance period saw the Protestant Reformation in Europe, the Baroque was a direct response from the Catholic church to counter that reformation. The Council of Trent was formed as part of the cou
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Italian Renaissance Art

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  Primavera, meaning Spring, was painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1480.  Botticelli and the Medici Family Sandro Botticelli was born in 1445 in Florence Italy as Alessandro Filipepi and apprenticed for an artist already supported by the wealthy Medici Family. By the time Botticelli was a teen, he had his own studio in the Medici Palace and had befriended the young Medici heir, Lorenzo Medici (PBS). Lorenzo de' Medici's biography points to the The Medici family as being a wealthy political powerhouse in Florence thriving on their banking and commerce business and giving them the ability to become one of the great art patrons of their time. Botticelli was not only close in proximity to the Medici family, he was close in age to Lorenzo and therefore able to create a lifelong bond with who would become Lorenzo the Magnificent, defacto ruler of Florence. I believe the Medici's were a heavy influence on his Botticelli's art. Impression This painting was commissioned to be a we
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