The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

In the painting The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Grant wood captures the scene where Paul rides his horse through the town. Grant paints the picture like a child with simple geometric shapes and lines. In this painting Grant makes no attempt to be historically correct by the lighting in the windows because it is too bright to be candle lights. Wood also made the moon shadow to bright to be scientifically correct. Wood has also painted the American gothic painting. Wood painted this painting during the world war II to boost American moral. Wood struggled against that tide, committed to his dream of a truly American art that would link the present to the past and preserve all the stories that made up the American heritage. (picturing American)

Kids with Masks, Helen Levitt

Identity Loss
According to Wikipedia.com, Helen Levitt was an American photographer particularly noted for her “street” photography around New York City and has been called “the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time.” In 1959 and 1960, Levitt received two Guggenheim Foundation grants to take color photographs on the streets of New York. She lived in New York for nearly 70 years. Helen Levitt was known to be notoriously private publicity shy.
According to nytimes.com, in 1938, Levitt contracted with Evans and Cartier-Bresson, both members of the Film and Photo League. Evans had a way of being sparingly, frontally direct with his common place subjects and Cartier-Bresson had a gift for catching everyday life in graceful, seemingly transparent flux. These two had a lot of impact in Levitt’s photography technique. Helen Levitt had a way of capturing instances of a cinematic and delightfully guileless form of street choreography that held at its heart, as William Butler Yeats (an Irish poet and playwright) put it, “the ceremony of innocence.” According to npr.com, in an interview, Helen talked of using a device that fit on her Leica camera called a winkelsucher which allowed her to look one way and take the picture the other. It virtually allowed her to turn her camera sideways and capture moments people had no idea were being photographed.
The photograph “Kids with Masks” was taken in the early 1940’s. Needless to say, the photo was taken on the streets of New York City. Levitt captured three small children getting ready to go out for Halloween in their masks, according to bluetramontana.com. However, beyond the real reason the children were dressed like that, I believe Levitt was trying to communicate a less obvious message.
In this photo, there are three young children; believed to be one girl and two boys. The girl stands on the top step wearing a nice dress holding up her mask. One boy is standing with one foot on the top step and one on the bottom step also wearing a mask covering his face and nice pants and a jacket. The other boy is standing on the bottom step, peering off into the street with a nice jacket, pants, and a mask as well. The porch they’re on looks to be made of concrete with an old chipped wooden doorway, and elaborate looking railing. It looks like the porch belongs to either a small home or apartment type building. The door is made of glass panels that reflect the building across the street. At the bottom of the door is a wooden rectangular frame design and also has wood that frames the outside of the glass. The actual building is made of brick, which you can see in the far right. The boy in front seems more relaxed with his legs crossed, while the other two seem unready and have uncrossed legs.
Was Levitt really trying to capture Halloween in New York City or a deeper reflection of society during that time? Could it be possible that this painting symbolizes how people in the 1940s and still today have to put on a certain cover before going out into the real world? Does acceptance have greater importance than one’s inner being and feeling? The masks represent the cover up that many people put on to create a different identity or illusion than what they really are at home. You can see that the little girl, being closer to the doorway between reality and the real world is still trying to get her mask on all the way. Does that bit of struggle to hold up her mask as she enters the outside show that we as humans have the hardest time pretending to be something we’re not when we’re closer and more connected to our inner selves? The farther we are from being in touch with who we really are the easier it is to identify with something you’re not? The little boy on the first step is completely relaxed and comfortable with his new identity and also happens to be farthest from the home. The doorway could represent the passageway from identity to fraud. The wooden frame along the outside is strong and sturdy which could be the image that most people put on in public while inside the frame are fragile glass panels that reflect the outside images which represents our inner being that we try to hide. Do we all try to prevent revealing the truth? Does the world around us influence what we do and reflect into the kind of person we become? Has honesty and openness become a sign of the weak?
The concrete porch represents the sturdiness and stability a person believes they stand on when they stay closed off and lie to the world, instead of showing what’s inside and risking vulnerability. If they didn’t have that barrier to keep up in front of others, they’re concrete porch would come crashing down around them. Do people’s opinions really cause that much satisfactions and self-acceptance?
The archetype “the innocent” can be seen in this photograph. The children in the painting represent this innocent and inexperienced being. They’re like a clean slate without much reflection from society, yet it shows that the youth of our culture is already being influenced by what they see around them. Why did Levitt use children as the main subject of this photograph? Was it to show how these children being very naïve still mock what they see around them? Are we dooming the future generation to a life of fraud and dishonesty.
Levitt was truly a mastermind of her time. Her photographs revealed images of society being caught off guard and most subjects not even knowing Levitt was taking a picture. Her work makes you look at things more closely and question the behavior of society. Levitt didn’t let the little things go unnoticed.

Maureen Loucks
Hour 2
Red Evening Sky
By: Emil Noble
Red Evening Sky was a painting on oil canvas and it was not a specific drawing. The painting was used by expressionist which made his paintings not as clear it was more like brush strokes throughout, however you could still see clearly the three canyons that were in the middle possibly representing his three main struggles. There’s also a pink-ish gold sky which to me represents his hopes and dreams. The blue ocean like floor was the freedom.
In the painting there are three dark brown canyons with mountains in the background. To me it represents the tougher “rocky” times in his life. They are steep and have sharp points on them. One of Noble’s struggles was choosing to leave his family farm that was in his family for 8 generations. Then there’s a canyon behind the first one which might represent him dropping out of college or falling behind. The next canyon is more to the right side of the painting and it shows his struggle to get a job. He felt like he was “slipping away”(Wikipedia.com) which could be why the canyon was to the side. However beneath the canyons was a blue ocean like floor. The floor made me feel like it was his freedom after he had left the farm went to school and did find a job. The floor had brush strokes that made it look like waves were splashing along the canyons almost trying to sweep them away or take them out. The water floor also had some white paint strokes which represents the purity he felt when he did become a artist and his struggles were behind him. Finally the pink/ gold sky which takes up a big proportion of the picture and what made me like it so much and want to choose it. It represents his hopes and dreams. It looks like a beautiful sunset with brush strokes of pink and gold. It seems relaxed and happy. When you look at it, it’s like a paradise at first sight then you look below and realize there is more going on. It shows that below him was his struggles what he has trying to erase them is his freedom, and what he has the most of is hopes and dreams that can overlook any struggle.

Hans Suess von Kulmbach

Justin Montgomery 2nd hr
Hans Suess von Kulmbach


Hans Suess von Kulmbach was born in 1480 in Kulmbach, Franconia (Germany.) He originally worked for Durer who is also an artist during the renaissance. He was doing alter pieces and paintings for Durer when he worked for him. There work always seemed to involve religion in some way, most of their stain glass and alter pieces were made for churches. Durer may have taught Hans Suess von Kulmbach a lot of what he knows but throughout all the learning Hans kept his own style which often displayed vivid color. In 1505, Hans became an apprentice to a painter and printmaker and no longer worked under Durer, but they always remained close. Then when Durer retired in 1510 Hans received most of Durer’s most important commissions one of these included was an alter piece for Maximilian (roman emperor.)
The painting, “Mary Salome and Zebedee with Their Sons James the Greater and John the Evangelist” is done with oil on panel. In this painting it depicts the family of four sitting down in what looks like a family portrait. There is a women (Mary Salome) sitting down in front of the man(Zebedee) who is standing behind her. I think this conveys the idea that the man is dominating the women by her sitting down showing that he has more power of her and during this time period men had a lot more rights than women. Mary in this photo has two kids who are next to her, she has a naked baby on her lap and a toddler with no pants to her side I believe this shows that the kids are dependent on the women and that most of the time back then the women did all the things with the kids while men were working.
In the photo no one is looking towards you they are all looking in different directions. The man’s eyes are to his right, while the woman’s looking to her left. The baby on Mary’s lap is looking at her and the other toddler is looking to his right. I think this is suppose to be showing how when kids(especially boys), when they are really young they lean more towards their mom and are often with them and that’s why the baby is looking up to the mom. Then once they start to get older they start to lean more on their dad and want to be with them and spend more time with them than their mom’s because they want to be just like their dads. That’s why the toddler is looking in the same direction as his dad.

Still Life With Fruit

Severin Roesen was born in Germany and emigrated to the united states in 1848, where was living,working and exhibiting in New York until 1952, when he moved to Pennsylvanis, settling eventually in Williamsport. His style includes a great attetion for bright colors. Roesen trained in the decorative arts tradition as a painter on porcelain. His lavish paintings of still lifes and flowers came from the tradition for the genre in 19th century Amercia as well as large canvases suitable for dining-room decoration. his works reveals his training as a painter of enamels and china with thier lavash drawings and bright colors and smooth surfaces. the portrait unfolds across an oval format, with a variety of fruits that spill over into the viewers space from their perch atop a marble ledge. the two vines of white grapes from opposing diagonals around which the other fruits-apples,plums,cherries,black berries, and a peach are arranged, while a birds nest holding three eggs is nestled in the lower-right hand corner.

The apples in the center are above everything else signifies a hero arctetype . the other friut are down lower and mainly besides the wall and table. there is a basket of eggs which represent the innocent archetype because a eggs represents new life.On the left side of the painting evertything is dark and on the right side it is bright. To me the friut and vines look more alive on the right. Darkness can represent poising and the brightness and symbolize being healthy and alive.

Heinrich campendonk

most of Campendonk's artwork was influenced by Marc, Macke and Kandinsky. A stiff geometrical form language was combined with color in complementary contrasts to a dynamic, rhythmic form language.
In 1916 Heinrich Campendonk moved to Seeshaupt at the Starnberger See, from where he went on extensive travels. At that point Campendonk's painting was marked by softly flowing forms, large calm areas of intensive light and lyrical, often fairytale-like mood. He also produced works in glass painting. In 1926 Campendonk was appointed professor at the Düsseldorf art academy.
After the end of the war, Campendonk did not return to Germany. He continued to work as a teacher and received numerous orders for glass windows in the Netherlands and Germany. In 1956 Campendonk was awarded the Quellinus Prize by the city of Amsterdam and made knight of the order "De Nederlandse Leeuw".