Art Review for a Painting by M.Petric

Portrait of a Lady by an unknown artist

Art Review for a Painting
by Marija Petric

This painting is a portrait of a beautiful lady from the 18th century which was commissioned by the royal family to be passed down as a family heirloom.The author of this work remains unknown although some believe it is the work of Miguel Cabrera.

In this picture the lines are mainly curved and the organic shapes dominate. The major colours are red and black, and light blue. The colours look naturally harmonius even though there is a strong and intriguing contrast between the red drapery and the black in the background. Also, the lady in the central part looks a lot more dazzling because she is wearing a light blue dress which is totally opposite to the background. The only thing that seems to fit are red flowers on it and a big one in her left hand. The shades are warm. The art work make us aware of a spherical pattern. The texture which the painting shows is velvety and very soft.

The main subject of this painting is a lady who is located in the central part. The technique is asymmetrical. Shading is used mainly in the parts of her body and her face, not on the dress. In the background there is shading on the drapery because it is curved. The space is rather flat with a slight sense of depth provided with the drapery in the background. A discrete sense of aerial perspective is achieved through the woman’s left arm, which is shaded to project an illusion of the three-dimensional world onto a one-dimensional surface. It also forms a sense of depth – of receding space. The only material the artist used in this piece of art is paint and the brush strokes are linear.

The new title of this peace could possibly be Beautiful as a Rose because there is a red rose in woman’s left hand which can be a symbol of the woman’s character. Perhaps she is a kind of person who can easily fall in love or it represents the passion this lady posseses. Also, there is a clear symbol of her royal origin represented in the amblem and red colour of the drapery. The lady looks very poised, which is emphasised by the dominating blue colour of her dress, and there is a general sense of harmony, so this wonderful portrait makes you feel calm, and it makes me a bit nostalgic about the old, 18th century times.

I think that this artwork is imitative because the artist accurately represented the appearance of the woman which was its general purpose, and at the same time it is functional because the artist wanted this artwork to be useful or it was maybe made for propaganda purposes for the royal family.There were slight differences in other people’s opinions about this work of art, but generally they all agree that the woman presented comes from a royal family because of the amblem in the up left corner. One person’s opinion was that the moment when this was painted was a period before her wedding, or maybe her coronation if she was to become a queen because the red colour in the background usually stands for something royal. But the other person, who is not interested in paintings at all thought that she was some kind of a countess and that she was very shallow because of the look of her face. Finally the third person’s opinion was that there was a wonderful contrast between her and the black background which represents other people. This contrast makes her illuminating and unique among the others.

I think that this painting could be interesting for some rich people who are connected to this way of living. People interested in it could also be some art historians, however, these two groups would not seem to include a lot of people.

Art Review for a Painting by I.Pesic

Carlos Cortez Koyokuikatl - Untitled Linocut
Art Review for a Painting
by Igor Pešić

This linocut shows a middle aged man in prison, holding a letter and a pen in his hand. It is dominated by both organic and geometric shapes, which are in sharp contrast and painted in a black-white mode with a very strong contrast between the colours. The stripes on his shirt and bars in the background make a lattice-like pattern and the artwork shows a rough and flat texture.

The arrangement is asymmetrical with some shading, mostly on the man’s face and on the bars. The bars, as we can see, are distant from the man so there is an effective illusion of depth. Shading includes a variety of tones of grays. The painting is dominated with lines and high contrast. There is a sense of three-dimensional space achieved through shading, the letter in the foreground, the man in the middle ground and the bars in the background. The artist used the technique of monotype on amate paper.

A title for this picture could be The Prisoner. I can see an expression of protest on his face and I think he will not stop protesting even when he comes out of the prison. He looks very determined. The black and white contrast shows the seriousness of his protest and produces sympathy for his cause. I think that the big idea is about politics. It shows that you should be very determinated if you really believe in something. And even in the bad times we should have faith.

The painting is functional because the artist intended the work to be useful for his political cause. My friends suggested that the painting might represent the protest of an individual against the state. They think that the black and white contrast reinforces the protest.

Art Review for a Painting by M.Urosevic

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
by an unknown artist

Reviewer: Marijana Urosevic

The painting is dominated by organic shapes and its colours are mostly analogous and not very complementary. The predominant colour is black, but you can also see a little bit of yellow and white. The contrast between the light coloured sleeves and dark dress and the backgroud in this painting is very intriguing and the shades give a feeling of coldness. The most interesting and exquisitive pattern in the picture is rendered by the sleeves, which are sphericaly creased in a wavelike symmetry. The texture provided by oil on canvas, with blended brush strokes, is flat, smooth and shiny.

Peerless shading is the main point of this picture, which makes it come alive.
The linear perspective is achieved through the position of the woman’s arms, which are in the foreground, gradually fading out into the dark background, together with a piece of magnet in her hands and a mysterious protruding brooch. Her dark body is in the middle ground, surrounded with inpenetrable, almost macabre background.

In my opinion a new title for this picture would be ‘A New Woman’ because it symbolizes a new type of women in that time, a woman who tried to do something for women’s rights and get an equal chance for learning. Very dark colours symbolize a difficult position of women in that period. They make you feel something strange, maybe a little bit of sadness caused by all the obstacles she has to cope with. The only bright thing in the picture is the lady who seems to be different from all others and who comes to change the world order. We could say that the theme of this picture is an emancipated woman who manages to overcome the limitations of her immediate surroundings.

This piece of art is emotional because the artist emphasized the mood and symbols, and at the same time functional since the artist intended the work to be educational. From my friends’ reactions I have noticed that men and women have different views. Men see an ordinary woman who does her everyday work. Women see a totally different person in this picture, they see an especially strong woman. Their comments also showed that they both noticed not so usual use of colours which made them feel an added value of this picture. I think that women are more interested in this painting because they emotionaly relate to the position of the woman in the painting and ordinary women from that time.

http://lingvaachievers.blogspot.com/

Art Review for an Unknown painting by Ivonne a-Baki

Reviewer: Dimitrije Mihajlovic

The painting shows a flash of light revealing the Crucifixion. The shapes are the mixture of organic and geometric. The colours are something between analogous and monochromatic with the predominant organge colour, which gives the impression of warmth. There is a contrast between the centre and the top of the painting between light yelow and dark brown. The predominant shape is a cross in the centre of spheres in a pretty rough texture. The composition is quadrant with a sharp contrast between light and dark, and with minimal shading.

In this painting the sense of three dimensions is absent. It has a lot of circular shapes with the big cross in the middle with some narrow lines. The painting is predominantly flat with linear perspective presented through the dark background which creates a sense of depth. The painter used the oil on canvas. The brushstrokes are broad with a lot of bumps. The technique is impasto.

The new title for this painting could be „Religion“, which actually represents the theme or the main idea, of this painting. There is a mixture of symbols. TH predominant one is the cross as a symbol of cristianity. The contrast symbolises the eternal fight between the light and the dark, the good and the evil. The painting is a little depressive because of the subdued light. This artwork is formalistic because of the mixture of shapes in an unusual way and the way of producing the feeling of three dimensions.

The viewers agree that the painting has a religious theme with the cross as a dominant shape, but they have different opinions as to whether the cross is represented in a positive way, something that connects people, or in a negative way, like the cross destroyed by burning. In my opinion this painting would be interesting for religious people because of its content.