Examples of a Thesis Statement for a Comparative Analysis Essay in Art History

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This comparison will look at Henry Moore's, Woman Seated in the Underground, (Figure i, 1941) and Pablo Picasso's, Bullfight Scene (Effigy ii, 1960).

Picasso's drawing was completed in ink on newspaper (480 by 623 mm in size) and depicts the picador, on his horse, lancing a bull. The focus is not on fine particular, but rather on the movement and form of the figures; the image is a nonetheless frame capturing the energy of the moment. A diverseness of tones are achieved past watering downward ink, which breaks upward the figures into more than descriptive forms, as opposed to a solid silhouette.

This cartoon is the tenth of the fourteen produced that day (25/02/1960), which depict the dissimilar stages of the bullfight. Moore'due south drawing portrays a woman seated in the London underground during the events of the Blitz. A much wider diversity of media was used including gouache, ink, watercolour, and crayon on paper (483 past 381 mm in size); notwithstanding, it is besides a completed work, part of a series of drawings produced nether the commission of the War Artists Advisory Committee.

The figure itself holds no facial features or expression; the atmosphere is portrayed primarily through the media and line. Trunk linguistic communication is another detail that exemplifies the tone of the drawing. In the background, we see a mass of people, ghosted in white crayon. The somber mood is enforced by Moore'south utilise of pastel greys and dulled watercolors.

The drawings differ on many points. They express very different visual languages through their choice of media, which is also influenced past the blazon of drawing and more by the environment they were produced in and for what purpose. However, both artists avoid naturalistic item in favor of media and composition to describe their respective scenes.

The artists accept generated drawings with emotion and meaning without having to directly reproduce reality. I am arguing the necessity of truthful-to-life particular, achieved by a medium like photography, to successfully portray a scene. In addition, I will suspension down the interpretation of the works from exterior the artists perspective and how successful the drawings translated their subjects.

Bulk of Moore's shelter drawings draw groups of shelterer'due south, all the same hither a lone woman sits autonomously, "Anxiously clasping her hands" (Tate, 2004) sitting in an upright position, inferring alacrity. The texture is a big part of Moore's cartoon: "Network of nervous, scratchy lines that describe the figure" (Tate, 2004), "In texture and color the newspaper resembles a slab of weathered physical," (Ashford, 2007).

The texture and dulled color perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of Moore's Hush-hush world – Moore used Pen, ink and predominantly the wax-resist technique with watercolor in both his sketchbook and finished drawings (Moore, 1988, pp.12). The tension is very much felt observing the drawing; you feel sympathy for the heavily swaddled shelterers.

Moore emphasized that he never made drawings in the Underground – "It would have been similar making sketches in the concur of a slave transport" (Moore, 1988, pp.10) – non wanting to unnerve people in the circumstances. He would make notes and reproduce them later on at home – "a annotation like two people sleeping under 1 blanket would exist enough of a reminder to enable me to brand a sketch the adjacent day." (Moore, 1988, pp.10) 'A Shelter Sketchbook' (Moore, 1988) contains a item sketch identical in resemblance to 'Adult female Seated in the Underground'.

In this sketch the effigy contains more recognizable facial features, a conclusion must have been made to remove these in the final cartoon. "Moore'due south estimation was… somewhat removed from the average shelterer's own experience… His featureless sleepers are all doomed and haunted… To him, information technology is the collective blueprint and not the private experience that is of importance." (Newton, 1945, pp.ix) Newton states that Moore'south Shelter drawings course a collective, non focused on individuals that can be recognized, merely the collective suffering of a nation.

Moore establish inspiration in the Underground mimicking his sculptural eye – "I had never seen so many rows of reclining figures (referring to his series of reclining nude sculptures) and fifty-fifty the holes, out of which the trains were coming seemed to me to be like them, holes in my sculpture." (Moore, 1988, pp.9) Frances Carey goes further to say "The whole meaning and substance of his by piece of work is implicit in his new work." (Carey, 1988) exemplifying the influence of his sculptural work. Moore'due south Secret figures accept been compared to "the casts of victims of the eruption of Mountain Vesuvius at Pompeii."(Phaidon, 2013) Almost sculptures themselves and similarly a faceless community, facing a harrowing experience.

In 1960 Picasso would accept been 79, yet he became more than productive in his later years, producing a larger volume and diverseness of work (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127) – The use of simply ink on paper in figure two supports this, the medium allows for a faster work charge per unit. Picasso and Moore used their subjects, depicted in Figures 1 and two, to go on producing work in times when the artists could exist seen to be a transition to new stages in their lives. Although Moore'southward works were commissioned they still are very much an extension of his sculptural piece of work. Picasso'due south, however, did non develop his drawings every bit Moore did; instead, we see a production of quantity.

It is evident Picasso used a castor with ink – this motion, of the castor, mimics the direction of motility, particularly in the bull'southward tail. The ink was watered down to achieve a variety of tones, breaking apart the figures making the forms more distinguishable. The scaling of the bull and the receding matador in the background creates a sense of depth in a simplistic drawing.

The Tate summary of Picasso's drawing reads: 'Bullfight Scene' illustrates a dramatic moment in which the picador spears the bull as it charges, while the matador stands in the groundwork, set to step in for the final phase of the killing to brainstorm." (Bottinelli, 2004) – Which gives adequate context to begin to decode the paradigm.

However looking at the whole serial, a narrative is axiomatic; However "many of them having been fatigued before going to the corrida and fabricated up of memories of previous corridas – fatigued, equally Picasso has said, to earn his admission to the arena" (Sabart?due south, 1961. pp.54) Sabart?s tells us the drawings do not strictly follow a specific narrative, nonetheless still draw the sequential stages of the bullfight.

Picasso and Moore'due south visual Languages differ greatly. Both artists are recreating a scene, but the artist's processes are very different – this could exist attributed to Moore's sculptural background and his new exploration of drawing as an end of its ain; versus Picasso who "felt to be active is to be live" (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127). In improver, Moore was producing finished works for his War Artist Commission, equally opposed to Picasso who practiced his cartoon to make full his life, recording his days.

Artist Henri Matisse believed "there is an inherent truth which must be disengaged from the outward appearance of the object to be represented. This is the only truth that matters." (Flam, 1973. pp.117) A statement that is applicative to both Figures 1 and ii. Sabart?s presents an excellent instance: "No i has seen a balderdash exactly as Picasso sees him… His bulls are real bulls; bulls… wild creatures, vibrant with life and incalculable force… the true image of a bull, translated from the artist'southward memories" (Sabart?s, 1961. pp.52).

Looking solely at his ink drawing, information technology is hard to envisage the true image Picasso was portraying. The collection of which Figure 2 is role of demonstrates a narrative that embodies something much grander. Sabart?s continues, "I practice not think that it is at all possible to compare our vision to that of Picasso. Indeed, every bit he has said, no i tin imagine what he sees as he has really seen it." (Sabart?southward, 1961. pp.58)

Moore'south drawings were misinterpreted by the British public: Art critic Keith Vaughan believed "The conclusion to give Henry Moore, a sculptor with an exceedingly personal sense of grade, the material of tube shelters… was surely one of great foresight and courage," (Lehmann, 1943) – all the same, Londoners felt "insulted" as they were excluded from the Hush-hush world Moore was portraying (Lehmann, 1943). David Ashford described the drawings as "alienating imagery of immemorial long-suffering and passive endurance' (that) afterwards became 'the cardinal image … of a putative "people's war"," (Ashford, 2007).

Vaughan believes knowledge of Moore'southward previous sculptural work was essential to fully understand the Cloak-and-dagger drawings (Lehmann, 1943), which could explain the adverse reaction from the public. Vaughan continues: "I have heard people call these drawings morbid and unreal. I exercise not think either criticism is justified. The qualities they stress are not less real considering they lie deeper than the obvious and the apparent." (Lehmann, 1943) further, exemplify the need to exist familiar with Moore'southward previous work to sympathise his intentions.

The forms he has evolved for the presentation of the man figure have grown out of… his materials of wood and stone." (Lehmann, 1943) Moore's style comes from the translation of his Sculptural groundwork into the medium of cartoon. Another critic wrote: "Moore has surrendered nothing… of his individual style" (Read, 1941) exemplifying that Moore was treating cartoon as "an end in itself" (Hall, 1966, pp.103) – During World War Two Moore's rented studio was damaged by the bombing. Moore was unable to complete his sculptural work, hence turned to the medium of cartoon (Moore, 1988).

Matisse'due south writing explores the idea of a deeper than the surface understanding: "it is thus evident that the anatomical, organic inexactitude in these drawings has not harmed the expression of the intimate grapheme and the inherent truth of the personality, just on the contrary has helped clarify information technology." (Flam, 1973. pp.117-119) Matisse maintains each drawing comes from the artists understanding of the subject, which becomes identifiable to the artist: "Information technology is not changed by the unlike weather under which the drawing is made; on the contrary the expression of his truth by the elasticity of its line and by its freedom lends itself to the demands of the composition;" (Flam, 1973. pp.117-119)

The 'truth' of the field of study is not altered past the medium. A greater knowledge is required to fully develop the agreement of the drawing: But as Noesis of the bullfighting tradition supplements the simpler ink drawing; and that an agreement of Moore'southward previous sculptural work has significantly influenced his Underground works.

Jean Sutherland Boggs reasons, "As an quondam man, Picasso could not help simply be witting of decease… The bull-fight is surely a reminder of decease," (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127) Ronald Penrose has a more than adult understanding of the bullfight theme – "The homo… the horse and the bull were all victims of an inextricable bicycle of life and death… The Bull is everlasting, it is continually replaced and becomes in this way the symbol of the enduring forcefulness of life." (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp110-111)

Boggs relates Picasso's fascination with bullfighting towards the end of his life is foreshadowing what is to come. While Penrose believes "The work of Picasso is to a higher place all an inquiry by visual means into the nature of that elusive thing reality" (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp102) suggesting the bullfight theme is not driven by the concept of decease – New characters are constantly reintroduced (bullfighters) only balderdash is "everlasting", A metaphor for his ain life; Picasso transitions to produce new styles of work only He is the constant.

The theme of decease is much more credible in Moore's drawing, Erich Neumann'southward ideas particularly: "Increasingly "abstruse" ghostly figures… the nearly recumbent sleepers are like the dead, and how the protection afforded by the swathing blanket is frequently barely distinguishable from the concluding security of decease. Some of the shelter drawings are not just pictures of cloak-and-dagger caves, but of the underworld" (Neumann, 1959, pp.eighty).

Many critics refer to the white wax creating the ghostly featureless figures: "spectral, skeletal, insufficient of mankind and blood." (Phaidon, 2013) In improver many accept noted, "The apparent absence of period detail led some… to translate such figures as timeless symbols of fear, vulnerability, and endurance." (Tate, 2004) The idea of timelessness farther adds to the concept of ghostly, haunting, figures. Furthermore, numerous comparisons take been made to "nightmarish slave ships" (Russell, 1968, pp.81) as if the figures are prisoners.

Moore'south recollection of the Hugger-mugger is quite the opposite: "there were intimate little touches. Children fast comatose… People who were apparently strangers… forming tight little intimate groups." (Moore, 1988, pp.9) What Moore described was that of a community meeting – "They were cut off from what was happening to a higher place, but they were aware of information technology." (Moore, 1988, pp.10) The removal of individuality only reinforces the idea of a collective, however, the public had misinterpreted the concept.

Picasso'southward cartoon portrays the effect of the balderdash's death as part of the circle of life, but it is constantly replaced; a romantic idealization. Moore'southward drawings have been compared to ghostly remnants, timeless reminders of the rush and the obvious death associated with it.

Picasso's 'Bullfight Scene' and Moore'south 'Adult female Seated in the Underground' depict 2 very unlike scenes, yet both are simply successful in portraying their subject to an extent. Moore'due south drawing is very visual, projects the temper through the texture particularly. Moore'southward sculpture groundwork heavily influences the outcomes, still, left the public feeling misrepresented, lost in the translation of his concepts.

Picasso's drawing is successful in capturing the scene in a simplistic vision, however the drawing is best seen as part of its narrative where the tradition of the bullfight is more than apparent. The drawings are a projection of the artists 'truth', however, they demand decoding: There is a alien argue about the themes of Picasso's drawing, torn between the celebration of tradition or foreshadowing what is to come in his later years.

Moore was fascinated by the idea of the collective, removing individuality from his images; he upset the British public who felt excluded from the Hush-hush earth. In addition, many critics perceived Moore's Underground figures as timeless symbols of pain, comparing the scenes to be purgatory-like – quite the contrasting view of what Moore saw and intended to show of the Secret.

The Drawings show how 'truth' can be reimagined to draw the 'artist's truth', even so the translation may non e'er exist so apparent, and is subjective to the viewers understanding.

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