Amphora Vessel

Amphora, ca. 530B.C.; Archaic; red-figure
Signed by Andokides, as potter; Attributed to the Andokides Painter (red-figure decoration); Attributed to Psiax (black-figure decoration)
Greek, Attic
Terracotta

Amphoras were usually used as large storage jars. This amphora vessel could possibly be one of the first red-figure painting, which was a much easier technique than the traditional black-figure decorations. The scene on the vessel is of Herakles and Apollo's fight over the tripod at Delphi. The top of the vessel is actually made much different than the rest because the white lip is decorated with black-figure painting. This small painting is of Herakles strangling a lion in the presence of Athena and Hermes. The style of the paintings were most likely influences by the pediments of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi.

Egypt Project

http://prezi.com/pcei9bkrlofx/ancient-egyptian-project/

Odd Nerdum

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2004-02.html

Odd Nerdum, a painter from Norway, really lives up to his name. In a time where art is centered around abstract and cubist modernism, Nerdum still chooses to paint a few centuries off, in the Old Masters technique. Of course, being as they all think modernism is the only way to go, art critics have given Nerdum much grief over the years. The author tries to be unbiased but I believe that Paul. A Canton is most likely routing for Nerdum or his article would have been a bit more negative. I think that this article is trying to show that although art is supposed to be a type of freedom of speech and thoughts, there is still a "right" way to do it, and that it is important to fight this thought and do what we want to do. 

Greek Funerary Krater

This krater was a typical Egyptian grave marker. The outside is covered in funerary art aimed at the emotions of the survivors, and not as much the afterlife of the dead, as was done in Egyptian art. The paintings depict funerary rituals in which the deceased is shown about to be cremated (a new practice at the time) and others look on in distress at the loss of the loved one.

This ceramic krater represents the art of the geometric period in Greece. The Greeks still shared some Persian culture, and this showed with the Persian-like decorations on this krater. It fits into the geometric period because many of the subjects are painted using geometric shapes, instead of trying to make a representational painting. I think this artists and sculptor had a feel for the formal elements in art, even if they didn't know it. The dark and light of the painting is evenly balanced, and the darker being on the skinnier part really works well. The person who actually made the krater also did well in the shape of it because it really does fill its space well and doesn't look awkward.

Downtown Presbyterian Church

Personally, I thought that the church was pretty neat just because it was so unusual. I loved the stained glass windows and just all the colors on the walls. They were very vibrant and fun. However, the red carpet did kind of clash with it. Other than being confused as to why they built the church like this, my group thought that the way it was set up and by the painted columns at the front, it really made it seem spacious. I could actually get the sense that I was in a building looking out into the Egyptian desert. Although the lighting was typical of a church, I feel that it fit this kind of setting because ancient Egyptians would not have had a way to make artificial light.

Ron Porter

http://nashvillearts.com/2010/08/30/ron-porter-brings-it-into-focus/

I was intrigued by this article mainly because of the interesting first picture. Ron Porter is a local surrealist artist who combines realist landscapes with out of place everyday objects. I thought it was interesting, however, that Porter first started out as an abstract painter. I think although his paintings look very detailed and the landscapes look very realistic now, his previous abstract style is still shown through the abnormal and out of place objects he puts in his artwork. Although we haven't discussed any art like this in class, due to its modern style, some of the elements we learned about are still present in Porter's paintings. Many decisions went into this painting, especially since Porter was not just recreating a scene. He had to decide what exactly he was going to include in it, and when he was going to stop adding objects. He also included  a foreground, middle ground, and background, and created a horizontal axis throughout the painting with the horizon.

The Palette or Narmer

 The Palette of Narmer was a ceremonial version of similar palettes that were used to ground up eye makeup. The top center of the front of the palette is a picture of a fish and a vertical chisel that represents the sounds nar and mer, representing the main subject of the relief sculpture, Narmer. Narmer is shown much larger than the rest of the people represented on the palette to show his importance and power over them, which is also shown by his actions of killing the man in front of him and those already deceased in the bottom section of the palette. The other side of the palette also shows Narmer overtaking the enemies with help from a bull. The whole palette itself represents the unification of lower and upper egypt.

As we moved into the Ancient Egypt section of our studies, I realized it was much different from the art we had been looking at because it was more sculpture than paintings. This particular piece of artwork shows typical egyptian art elements. The artist used iconography, which is the reading of images. It also includes the element of simultaneous narrative because it is not just one complete picture, but of different images of different parts of a story. Lastly, it uses the traditional Egyptian style of the composite pose which was made using a grid, with the figure's shoulders forward and the rest of the figure facing to the side.