Representational art essay sample

The piece “ Young Mulatto” was painted by Emily Guthrie Smith in 1942. This painting consists of warm colors like peach, gold and beige and was obliviously done in fluid media: oil on canvas. The painting shows a young black woman, dressed in white, sitting with a shawl around her. She seems to be tying the strings on top of her dress. We can see the different strokes she painted and this adds a unique touch. This helps create depth and details. The painting is portrait of the young woman. This can be classified as art and beauty because this portrait shows a beautiful lady sitting and she has this mysterious look on her face. I cannot figure out if she smiling or if she seems tensed. I choose this painting because in my history class, we are discussing the civil rights movement and this just caught my eye.

However, the title caught my eye more than the painting itself. Instead of calling the picture “ The Young Lady” or just “ The Lady”, she titled it “ Young Mulatto”, this shows the discrimination people face in the past. Mulatto, meaning one parent was white and the other was black, still faced the same level of discrimination as someone who was completely black. This painting was painted eight years before the civil rights movement started. Smith, herself was born and raised in Forth Worth and she attended Texas Women’s University (Curlee). Smith was a very talented woman. She won awards and painted over two thousand paintings (Curlee). Her favorite medium was pastels, but she also used oils and made sculptures (Curlee). Since she grew up in the south, the civil rights movement was certainly a huge impact which may have lead her to paint this painting and naming it “ Young Mulatto”.

Non- Representational
For the non-representational art I choose an abstract painting called “ Yellow paint by John Paul Jones, painted in 1950. The painting, like its title, is all yellow and consists of different shades of yellow. This painting is nonobjective and consists of geometric shapes. Some parts are darker than others and some are lighter, a sense of chiaroscuro. This painting seems to be influenced by cubism and minimalism.

I choose this painting because when I think of non representational art, I think of abstract art. Also one of my favorite colors is yellow, so this one stuck out to me. Jones starts receiving recognition ten years after he painted this painting (John Paul Jones).

3-D Art
I choose the 3-D art piece called “ Vishnu and Attendants”. The sculpture is neatly engraved. The sculptor is unknown, but the sculpture itself was made in 1026 A. D. The material used is sand stone. I liked the piece of art because of how old it is. Also because being Indian myself, I know Hinduism plays a big role in shaping Indian culture. Vishnu is the main god in Hinduism.

Works Cited

Curlee, Kendall. “ SMITH, EMILY GUTHRIE.” Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Web. 29 Apr. 2012. < http://www. tshaonline. org/handbook/online/articles/fsm93 >. “ John Paul Jones « Laguna Art Museum – Laguna Beach, CA.” John Paul Jones « LagunaArt Museum – Laguna Beach, CA. Web. 01 May 2012..