In case you were wondering, and you probably weren't, I really wanted to go to grad school for Art History instead of Comparative Literature (once I decided to go to grad school). It just didn't work out - also, my dad said no way josé to SCAD, even after I had fallen instantly in love with Savannah.
Sooo I am in grad school analyzing literature instead of paintings. I have to ask a lot of questions because as it turns out, I am a concrete thinker instead of an abstract thinker, and 75% of my classes are abstract, I swear. I actually prefer pictures to words. Oh well.
So anyway, I would love to do a series on some of my favorite pieces. Eh, por quoi pas?
Let's start with El Joven Mendigo by Bartolomé Esteban Murrilo (1650), because I actually mentioned him in class yesterday (okay, secretly I do everything I can to relate my classes to visual arts). He says a lot to me about what can be considered "beautiful" and "delightful" (topic of class discussion in history of literary criticism).
There he is! My little buddy! I am really attached to this painting for a variety of reasons. First of all, it's the only of the six that I mentioned last time that I have seen in person. Pi Delta Phi (hee hee hee hon hon hon, the French honor society at Clemson) took a trip to the Louvre exhibit that had been brought over to the Atlanta High Museum, and little buddy was there! Second of all, this painting seems to be a kind of pre-cursor to our modern day "photojournalism". Murillo uses this work to expose what was going on in the streets of Baroque Spain, which is pretty cool to me.
Spain had enjoyed quite the Golden Age, built itself an empire, and saw much growth in the realm of the arts. Unfortunately, after all of their exploits their money started to dry up. Enter the little beggar boy. Here he is eating rotten shrimp and picking the lice off of him. It's a pretty grim picture of Spain at the time, yet it remains one of my favorite works of all time.
Why?
Well, aesthetically it's great. I can't get enough of chiaroscuro, which is essentially a painting technique to create more contrast - intense darks, bright lights. I have always really loved a lot of contrast - it seems more striking to me. (In photography, you are generally always looking to achieve this with your prints - deep blacks, bright whites, while retaining shadows).
His colors are beautiful. Little buddy's face is so tender and sweet. The goal of the painting is to speak to our humanity, to inspire "pity and fear" (baha the goal of tragic works. Dr Shifflett got way too into my head), and I think the best word to describe this painting is (that word again) "tender". Gahhh I just love it.
oh my god this is so academic
ReplyDeleteinsanely. i know.
ReplyDeleteminus academians don't generally talk about the subject of works as their "little buddy."
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this! I have always been fascinated with what others saw in art. I understand that art appreciation is profoundly subjective. Yet, I have never had a work of art that hit me the way this one obviously does for you. My art professor in college referred to it as a Cameron moment (based on the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where Cameron can't quit staring at a piece of art).
ReplyDeleteI do think that this painting, as you said, is beautifully done. That I can get and see for myself. Maybe I am just too, not sure of the word I am groping for here, logical for art? Anyway, I look forward to your take on the other works you mentioned before.