Art as Expression Essay - 1822 Words

Artists are central to cultural, political and social discourses in the world. They are here not only to inspire us, but to provoke us as well. Four artists that broke social, political and cultural barriers were, Rene Magritte, John Heartfield Jackson Pollock and Otto Dix. While the artists were involved in different movements, each one made revolutionary statements with their works. Artists have a responsibility to use their works as a weapon to the status quo and to break these cultural and social barriers. Rene Magritte and John Heartfield were important figures to the Surrealist movement. Surrealism was a movement that developed after World War II and as a result, society was requesting art that was of the ‘norm’ to give the world a†¦show more content†¦The viewer is drawn in through curiosity, because to them, this is only a pipe. It is a paradoxical statement that forces the viewer to reassess if this is a painting of a pipe. When Magritte was asked why he added that inscription, he replied that it is not a pipe and therefore should not lie. He then said, â€Å"If it were a pipe, they should try to fill it with tobacco† (Foster, Volume 1). Magritte was interested in the natural tendency of the mind to label everything we see and how we lack to find a deeper meaning. Through his paintings of arbitrary every day objects to invoke curiosity, hoping the viewer will see past the image and find the meaning. He wants to show the viewer that language and the vis ual can cheat us, even manipulate our way of thinking. In 1933, Magritte painted â€Å"The Human Condition† (Foster, Volume 1).. The painting depicts what appears to be a window, with curtains and a scenic landscape through the window. As the viewer observes the painting more closely, they see that there are legs of an easel under the window. The viewer observes that this is a painting of what appears to be outside the window, or is it? We are forced to trust the artist and believe outside the window is this landscape, when it could really be an urban or rainy scene. Magritte is trying to tell the viewers that they tend to believe the artist, because they are the artists, when they should ask questions about the representation and interpretation. TheShow MoreRelatedThe Expression Of The Arts1655 Words   |  7 Pages The Expression of the Arts The Allegory of Music a painting by Laurent de la Hyre, a French painter from Paris that was born in 1606 and died in 1656 in Paris. He painted the Allegory of Music in 1649 when he was about 43 years of age. La Hyre painted this painting from oil on canvas and made the size of the painting approximately 41 5/8 x 56 3/4 in, we can observe that the amount of detail La Hyre add to his painting, he went from darks to lights. ThisRead MoreArt Is an Expression1389 Words   |  6 PagesArt History 6A 19 November 2011 Triumph! 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