“Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera

Art Analysis Essay

            The painting “Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera is divided into three different sections. The top section of the painting has a lot of tall buildings, e.g, (skyscrapers) with a lot of deep red and brown colors. In the top of the painting there is a lot of construction going on with the use of cranes. In the middle section of the painting there is a good amount of gray along with a man dressed in dark colors staring off into the gray. In the background there is a little light shining in the distance. There is also, a lot of graves that are colored gray that are in the middle section surrounding the man whose hair is gray. The man, who has gray hair, looks at all the people that are dead right in front of him. In the bottom half of the painting there is a lot of red and charcoal gray colors. In the foreground there is man sitting behind a desk that is green, and has a lamp on it. The man, dressed in dark colors, is standing behind the bars. There is a woman also in the background, but farther back than the man behind the bars. A bench, with a wood color, has a lot of people sitting on it.

            There are three main elements to focus on in this painting. The first element that I am going to analyze is the color of the painting. The top half of the painting has a lot of bright colors including red, blue, and yellow. The middle section has a lot of neutral colors including a bright white, a light black, and a darkish gray. The bottom section has a lot of earthy colors including earthy red, earthy brown, and an earthy gray. The foreground of the top section includes the top of a building. In the mid ground of the painting there is many cranes, and a train. The background of the top painting includes a lot of tall buildings. The middle section of the painting has a man with gray hair in the foreground, and in the mid ground there is a lot of dead people who are on the floor. In the background there is a bright white light. In the foreground of the bottom section there is a man sitting behind a desk, The mid ground of this bottom section has a lot of people sitting on a bench. In the background there is a man behind bars, along with a woman way behind the bars. In all three sections of the painting tone is present. In the top layer the tone is natural light that is displayed over the buildings, and in the sky with the clouds. In the middle section there is a tonal scale of light. The mid ground goes from medium to light in color. The bottom section of the painting has artificial light given off by the lamp. The room also seems to have artificial light coming from the ceiling. The tone in this painting changes because it adds interest to the painting.

            This painting’s meaning has to do with the GreGreat Depressionat Depression. This is because the date of the painting is in 1931, which is when the Great Depression was going on. The title of the painting “Frozen Assets” could help explain how it is during the time of the Great Depression. “Frozen Assets” to me means that everything of value was not worth anything anymore due to the Great Depression. I think in the top of the painting it is showing what this world could be, and how successful it could be. The bright colors in the top half of the painting can show happiness. The middle section shows people who have passed, and an older man looking at all the dead people. I feel that he is looking at them, and is understanding that he may die soon, and be like them. He also maybe is staring at the bright light out in front of him, which could mean that death is near. In the bottom half of the painting there are a man and a women who in my opinion are in jail, and there is people there on the bench to bail him and her out of jail. The man behind the desk is somebody who is in charge of the people who are behind the bars, or somebody who is keeping records for the prison. Banks can be like prisons because in a bank that is unsafe your money can feel trapped, like when your trapped in jail.

Annotation Notes:
The painting “Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera is divided into three different sections. The top section has a lot of tall buildings (skyscrapers) with a lot of deep red and brown colors. In the top of the painting there is a lot of construction going on with the use of cranes. In the middle section of the photo there is a good amount of gray along with a man dressed in dark colors staring off into the gray. In the background there is a little light shining in the distance. In the bottom half of the painting there is a lot of red and charcoal gray colors. In the foreground there is man sitting behind a desk that is green, and has a lamp on it. The man, dressed in dark colors, is standing behind the bars. There is a woman also in the background but farther back than the man behind the bars. A bench, with a wood color, has a lot of people sitting on it.

Notes:

Line:

Bars on the bottom half of the picture light line

The building in the top half are vertical

The bottom half of the top painting has heavy lines

Tone:

The bottom half of the top painting is shaded

The middle half has a blended tone between all the grays

The whole picture is opaque

Form:

The person opening the bars on the bottom seems animated

Some of the buildings on the top half seem cuboid

The lines on the desk for the bottom painting has slow lines

Color:

The color in the bottom painting is sienna, and red

On the top painting, the cranes are a cool yellow color.

The bottom of the top painting has a lot of bold colors.

"Glance of a Landscape" by Paul Klee

Glance of a Landscape

Paul Klee depicts many different features In the painting “Glance of a Landscape.” In the foreground there are two sets of elegantly aligned stairs. Majestically mysterious mountains hiding the mystery that lies behind it are shown in the background of the painting. In the midground there are many trees on both sides of the very large eye. Fading in the background, the three large mountains loom over the horizon. The eye, a large and mysterious figure, watches the viewer with its crimson eyeball. The gloomy background colors give the painting a dark mysterious tone.  The mix of dark purple, grey and red give the sense of darkness.

The cut-out lines on the corners of the painting create a mysterious effect because the whole painting is a dark color while one or two shapes are plain colors. The dark blue color adds to the spooky effect of this entire painting. The bold tone of the eye in the center is the leading eye line of the viewer. If any viewer looked at this painting, the first aspect that would catch their attention is the mysterious eye in the dead center of the painting. Paul Klee has composed the piece purposely to add to the mystery, leaving this eye in the center with elements nowhere near similar to an eye. It gives the abstract feeling to the painting as a whole. The last element of note is the composition. The mountains are distorted in the background. The mountains are juxtaposed to each other to show the vast variety of them.

The meaning of this piece is most likely the mystery of the woods. The eye resembles the mysterious feeling of being watched. The meaning of putting the eye in the center is to draw the viewer to it and bring the curiosity to people’s attention. The mountaintops resemble the seclusion felt in the woods. They also symbolize the feeling of being trapped in nature, acting as the barrier preventing the viewer from leaving the darkness. The blue and purple colors give the painting that feeling of darkness in the woods. The stick figure tress create a feeling of confusion. The meaning is that the woods are a very spooky and mysterious place.

Annotation Notes:

The painting has many different features to it. In the foreground there are two sets of elegantly aligned stairs. In the background there are majestically mysterious mountains hiding the mystery that lies behind it. In the midground there are many trees on both sides of the very large eye. Fading in the background, the three large mountains loom over the horizon. The eye, a large and mysterious figure, watches the viewer with its crimson eyeball. The dark gloomy background colors give the painting a dark mysterious tone.  The mix of dark purple, grey and red give the sense of darkness.

"The Scream” by Edvard Munch

Art Analysis

 “The Scream,” by Edvard Munch, depicts a scene with a human- like figure on a bride screaming beside a body of water. There are warm and cool colors to distinguish the sky from the lake in the background. Fluid and smudged lines make up the picture as a whole. Walking in the opposite direction of the “screamer”, the men fade into the background. The sky is subdued orange and red strokes, which show movement in the background. Also, different shades of blue make up the lake, in which two boats are sitting in the middle of it. The bridge that the man is standing on in the foreground has umber and sienna strokes.  The man in the foreground, the faceless figure, stands out in the picture as a focal point.

On the top third of the picture, there are vibrant, warm colors that brighten up the sky, giving it an appearance of a sunset. These warm colors contrast with the cool blue colors of the lake, reflecting the sky that is shining on it. The lines are fluid and smudged throughout the picture, creating a mysterious feel. The “screamer” in the foreground is wavy and unrealistic. Being that there is minimal detail, it is as though there is something missing from the painting.

The picture’s focal point, the “screamer” in the front, symbolizes life, an “emotional journey.” Life is full of ups and downs, good times and bad times, and the facial expression symbolizes one of the bad times. The people walking towards the background, unaware of the screamer, depict the mystery of life. The water symbolizes life’s purities, and goodness. Red represents anger and love, and the fire red sky depicts that. With the sky being red, love and anger are both captured in this artwork. Overall, the painting tells the story of life, and the many emotions.

 
Art Descriptive Paragraph

            In “The Scream,” by Edvard Munch, it depicts a scene with a human- like figure screaming. There are warm and cool colors to distinguish the sky from the lake in the background. There are fluid and smudged lines that makeup the picture as a whole. The bridge that the man is standing on in the foreground has umber and sienna strokes. Walking in the opposite direction, the men in the background move into the background. The sky is a subdued orange and red stroke, which shows movement in the background. In the background, there are different shades of blue, which make up the lake, with two boats sitting in the middle of it. As a whole, the picture has very little detail. The man in the foreground, the faceless figure, stands out in the picture as a focal point.

           

Art Annotations

Annotation of “The Scream” by Edvard Munch

How is the piece composed?

Composition Notes:

Line Notes:

·        There are fluid lines that make up the picture.

·        The smudged lines make up the picture.

·        The rising lines of the bridge lead from the foreground to the background.

Tone Notes:

·        There are chiaroscuro lines of different shades that make up the bridge and background.

·        There is a high tonal scale of the blue, brown and orange colors

·        There are parts of that water that are deep toned and some that are light

Form:

·        The lake in the background are elegant and loose

·        The lines making up the picture are convoluted

·        The smooth texture gives it a softer look

Color:

·        There are umber and sienna colors on the bridge

·        There is a viridian on the edge of the lake

·        The sky has bright and subdued shapes of orange