Some Art Opinions with Mack

Marcel Duchamp was an artist in the early 1900s who coined the term "readymade" art works. He challenged society's idea of what is art by taking everyday objects out of their usual context. These were his groundbreaking readymade pieces.

Fauvism is a style of painting with vivid expressionistic and unrealistic use of color that thrived in Paris in 1905. Henri Matisse was regarded as the movement's leading figure.

The Arts and Crafts Movement  was an international movement in the decorative and fine arts scene. This began in Britain and continued throughout Europe and North America between 1880 and 1920. Japan also took up the movement in 1920. 

Vermeer was born in 1632 in Delft, Netherlands. Today, 34 paintings are firmly attributed to him, with three being debated on whether or not they are his. However, 74 pictures were attributed to him by Thoré-Bürger, a journalist and art critic who is best known for his rediscovery of Vermeer in 1866. Most of his work involves paintings of people and their everyday lives. However, Vermeer pushes the use of lights and dark to the extreme, making the beholder feel the depth of the painting. Also, some of his paintings show women living day to day, including the stresses and pressures of life such as women drinking, praying, preparing themselves for the morning, or sitting at the table processing the events of the day. 

Jan Van Eyck was born in the year of 1395 and was a prominent figure of the Early Netherlandish art of his time. Van Eyck served as an official to the ruler of Holland, John of Bavaria-Straubing. By this time he had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace. After John's death in 1425, he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of Philip the Good, and he was freed from commissions because of the court's salary. He used oils for his paintings and Van Eyck often conveyed what he saw as a harmony of the spiritual and material worlds using iconographic elements. The painting above is called the Arnolfini Portrait done by Jan Van Eyck. It forms a full-length double portrait, believed to showcase an Italian merchant named Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife. This oil painting has unique feature that was revolutionary at the time: a mirror. In the background, you can see a mirror reflecting the couple in the portrait. This was not

Giotto di Bondone was born in the year of 1276 in Vespignano, near Florence, Italy. He is known as the as the most important Italian painter of the 14th century. His work plays a part to the famous Renaissance developed a century later. For almost seven centuries, Giotto has been known as the father of European painting and one of the first of the great masters of art. Unfortunately, Giotto died on January 8, 1337. However, he lived a full artistic life: he painted frescoes in the Upper Church at Assisi, in the Lower Church of the Basilica of St. Francis, and across Italy's historic churches. He primarily worked with frescoes and the theme of his art is focused on events from the bible. His art style is has very dark and earthy tones and he doesn't shy away from using intense imagery like blood and death. Above is The Lamentation by Giotto and can be seen in the Arena Chapel in Padua. This painting is known for the dark tones and the overwhelming sadness. It showcases the

According to the dictionary, the definition of a gargoyle is "a grotesque carved human or animal face or figure projecting from the gutter of a building, typically acting as a spout to carry water clear of a wall." These disgusting looking creatures served has two functions for the medieval time period. The first one has a practical purpose: gargoyles provided protection from erosion so that the buildings such as churches, cathedrals, and castles didn't wash away. The second purpose of gargoyles was as protectors or guardians of the buildings. Primarily, they were designed to ward off evil. GARGOYLES GROTESQUES

The Romans, Byzantine empire, and Islam all used tiny coloured stones or pieces of ceramic called tesserae to make their mosaics. Roman: Byzantine: Islamic: