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GoupEssay.docxArt Appreciation GROUP PROJECT ESSAY El Centro College
ARTS 1301 2018 ALL sections Academic Transfer Division
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Throughout time and even today political leaders and rulers have always played a huge role in society. Whether the ruler is a president, dictator, or even part of the monarchy these leaders have always wanted to cast an image of superiority. Most commonly the leaders would prefer to be immortalized in paintings or sculptures. The textbook Gateways to art: Understanding the visual arts, states that art can be used as a tool by leaders and rulers to showcase themselves as grandiose, for propaganda, and to display themselves as ever so righteous leaders that must be looked upon (Dewitte et al. 625). For political leaders and rulers, art has helped portray them as iconic images because they are recognized by all from the moment they are seen. These leaders are immediately associated with historical events, time periods, or with the feelings they radiate. Consequently, through an artist’s work the leaders are put in a position where they convey and represent the attributes and traits a ruler should possess (Dewitte et al. 625-634). Art has not just made these leaders into iconic figures, art has also been used to maintain and reinforce that they are the ones with absolute power. Artworks of leaders helped depict the rulers as “the chosen one,” and as such, the artworks portray and symbolize their absolute right over things, land, decisions, and people (Dewitte et al.625-634). Lastly as mentioned in chapter 4.6 of the textbook, for leaders to gain societal control, artwork was utilized in the form of propaganda. Consequently, art not only glorifies these individuals, but it also served to instill obedience, loyalty, respect, and admiration for these leaders and rulers (Dewitte et al. 625-634).
We believe that the artworks WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE and the “HOPE” portrait are iconic because they were both presidents at one time, as well as holding the title of first. Obama was the first black president and his philosophy was, “if I want to make things happen I’ll just act first and apologize later” (Arnon, Ben). This portrait of Obama shows that he goes for what he wants and hopes for a better future. Likewise, the piece WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE is iconic because everyone recognizes Washington and the impact he had in history. Although Washington and Obama were portrayed as leaders in these pieces, their imposing roles went beyond the artistic depictions for they are both real life leaders who have made history. In essence, both works can be considered iconic for they both commemorate important times in history.
Posing as one of the world’s most dominant and powerful rulers to have ever existed, Adolf Hitler, was a man that was both loved and hated by many. He was a person who demonstrated absolute power for many years, which in return made him feel invincible. The art work demonstrated is a painting of him sitting on a stone bridge, the title of the art work is called Self-Portrait On A Stone Bridge. Through the art piece we can infer how Adolf Hitler’s life was possibly like before he became the person we all know of today. On the Telegraph it said, "It's curious to say the least how an artist, whose interests at this stage of his life should be in such peaceful and bucolic subjects, could turn into the monster he became in later life”. Absolute power means someone who has complete power of everything and everyone they are leading and as such, Adolf Hitler was a great example. He was a person that went from being no one to someone that is widely known even after all these years.
When a person hears the word propaganda they automatically associate it with something bad. This is because propaganda is more commonly utilized to convey something negative because it is used to inform people of a particular political cause or point of view with a bias opinion. However, this was not the case for the piece WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. The piece was used to “help encourage European liberals by setting The American Revolution as an example for the Europeans to follow and be motivated” since they were trying to separate from monarchy and become their own state (Emanuel, Leutze). Additionally, the Obama “HOPE” portrait is a great example demonstrating that propaganda is not always used negatively. Since he was the first African American to run for president, there was a lot of people that wanted to see him succeed. “I think what then happened was that there were a lot of people who were digging Obama, but they didn't have any way to symbolically show their support. Once there was an image that represented their support for Obama then that became their Facebook image or their email signature or something they use on their MySpace page” (Arnon, Ben).
Works Cited
Dewitte, Debra J., et al. Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts. 2nd ed., Thames & Hudson, 2015, pp.625-634.
Editors for The Telegraph. “Self Portrait On A Stone Bridge” The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/5049096/Adolf-Hitlers-first-self-portrait-up-for-auction.html. Accessed 01 Mar. 2018.
“Emanuel Leutze.” Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, 23 Feb. 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Leutze.
"How the Obama “Hope” Poster Reached a Tipping Point and Became a Cultural Phenomenon: An Interview With the Artist Shepard Fairey." Interview. Blog post. Huff Post. Arnon, Ben., 2008. Web. 6 Mar. 2018. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-arnon/how-the-obama-hope-poster_b_133874.html.
Leutze, Emanuel. Washington Crossing the Delaware. 1851. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/ 11417?sortBy=Relevance&ft=Washington+Crossing+the+Delaware&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1. Accessed 04 Mar. 2018.
Publishes for Wikiart. “Self-Portrait On A Stone Bridge” WikiArt. https://www.wikiart.org/en/adolf-hitler/self-portrait-on-a-stone-bridge-1910. Accessed 01 Mar. 2018.
Smithsonian. "National Portrait Gallery." Barack Obama. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2018. http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_npg.2008.52 .
Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.)
Title: WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE
Date: 1851
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 149 x 255 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897
Accession Number: 97.34
Description
Shepard Fairey, Obama “HOPE” Portrait, 2008, hand-finished collage, stencil, and acrylic on heavy paper, 69 9/16” x 46 ¼”, National Portrait Gallery.
Title: Self Portrait On A Stone Bridge
Date: 1910
Medium: Water color paint
Dimensions: unknown
Classification: Painting
