The Rape of Europa

The Rape of Europa examines the artistic tastes of Adolf Hitler as well as his fellow advisers, and how they looted art from many of Europe's most treasured museums and prized art collections during the course of World War II. The Nazis looted the art in order for them to gather an immensely expansive collection of the finest art in all of Europe. They collected the art for a grand museum that was to be built in Nazi Germany, which would have held some of the most significant art in the world. This would have added much glory to the Third Reich due to Hitler's obsession with fine art. Hitler cherished and collected much art from all around Europe, however, there was much art which Hitler completely destroyed because he viewed some specific art as "degenerate". This meaning that Hitler had absolutely no appreciation for "degenerate" art, art which was not German or of Jewish nature. Hitler, also did not appreciate modern art, he was more into art that had aspects of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. During the time if the Third Reich, art was either being collected or brutally destroyed by the Nazis. In 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, the majority of art in parts of Poland such as Warsaw, were thought of as "degenerate" and were destroyed by the Nazis.When news began to spread of how the Nazis were looting art from all around Europe, a few countries such as France prepared for what was to come. Members of  the Louvre, which is a grand museum located in Paris decided that it was best to put all of the priceless works of art into storage and ship them off to the countryside in France. This was an extremely difficult task to accomplish due to how delicate the works of art are. When putting the art into storage, the individuals who helped out had to be very careful with all the art in order to make sure they did not harm or break the art. When art was shipped out by either a plane, train, or automobile, it was taken to the countryside where it would remain in hiding for the duration of World War II. One piece specifically that was more difficult to move was the Winged Victory. This Greek sculpture was difficult to move due to its size, delicacy, and its location in the Louvre. The statue overlooks a set of stairs which made it hard for the Winged Victory to be moved into storage. When the Nazis reached Paris in 1940 they were surprised to find no art contained within the Louvre, however they did not destroy and vandalize Paris as they did to Warsaw. The Nazis appreciated the city of Paris and did not consider it to be degenerate. Other issues have come out into the light in the years since this all happened. For example, many works of art that belong to their rightful owners have not been found, or are in museums around the world. Works of art confiscated by the Nazis are still being searched for today and rightful owners of art in museums are battling for possession of the art. Just recently, more than 1400 works of art were found in a flat in Munich, Germany. This only goes to show that more works of art stolen by the Nazis are somewhere out there and will hopefully soon be found and returned to their owners. Approximately 20% of the art in Europe was looted by the Nazis, and there are well over 100,000 items still missing today. The majority of what is missing today includes china, crystal, and silver. The most interesting part about all of this is how Adolf Hitler's views on art so significantly influenced his actions during World War II. If Hitler had been accepted into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and perused a career in art rather than in politics/military, the world today would be a different place.

Project Six - Abstract/Non-Objective Art

Project Six involved creating a work of art that is abstract/non-objective. Abstract/non-objective art uses a visual language of form, color, and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Abstract art, non-objective art, non-figurative art, and non-representational art are all loosely related terms. They are similar, but perhaps not of identical meaning. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in deception of imagery in art. For this project dealing with abstract/non-objective art, I decided to create a four logo print of the Batman symbol. The media I choose to use was black and yellow ink. However, before applying the ink to my print, I used a carving tool to carve out the Batman symbol. I was inspired to create a print after observing the work of a famous artist named Andy Warhol. Warhol was an artist in the field of abstract/non-objective art, specifically dealing with pop art. Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950's in Britain and in the late-1950's in the Untied States. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, or combined with unrelated material. It was during the 1960's that Andy Warhol was in his prime. He created many works of art during this time that included pop art of individuals such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Troy Donahue, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jim Morrison. The subject of his art also included companies such as Coca-Cola and Campbell's Soup Cans. Warhol also created artwork of very significant pictures involving the Civil Rights Movement. I choose to make a print because of the way it symbolizes a certain individual or image and how it looks awesome when finished. I choose the Batman symbol as my subject due to Batman being my favorite superhero. Also, the Batman symbol not only represents Batman himself, but everything Batman stands for and symbolizes as an extremely significant and heroic individual from DC Comics. For me, the most successful part of this project was my ability to create a print that neatly and accurately portrayed the Batman symbol. The set up of the four prints on the single page are perfectly aligned and I managed to carve a good looking Batman symbol. In addition, the colors are the classic Batman colors (black and yellow) which add to the overall effect the symbol has.

Project Five - Sculpture

Project Five had to do with creating a sculpture of you're choice out of clay or cardboard. The media which I choose to use for the project is clay. With the clay I created a pinch pot. A pinch pot is an ancient as well as contemporary form of pottery. I decided to create a pinch pot due to its simplicity yet it can tend to be an extremely creative sculpture when finished. After sculpting the pinch pot and waiting for it to dry completely, it was then time to paint it. The theme I choose when painting the pinch pot revolves around Pearl Jams new album called Lightning Bolt. I painted the pot using colors and emblems which can be found on the cover of the album Lightning Bolt. The main colors I used include red, black, and white. I also used yellow to paint the inside of the pot. The emblems which I carved into the pot include lightning bolts that go around the sides of the pot as well as the letters PJ carved into the bottom of the inside of the pot. The letters stand for Pearl Jam. I believe that the most successful part of Project Five was my ability to create a well sculpted pinch pot through following the precise instructions on how to do so. Also I was able to accurately portray the elements of art which are on the cover of Pearl Jams album Lightning Bolt and apply them to my pinch pot.

Project Four - Perspective

Project Four dealt with various types of perspective which are used in the field of art. The specific type of perspective I choose to use is called Forced Perspective. Forced Perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer. larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture. It tends to manipulate human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation between them and the vantage point of the spectator or camera. The media that was used for this project was a camera. I was inspired to do this project using Forced Perspective due to how interesting and creative this type of perspective can be. Before starting the final portion of the project I created a #Pinterestboard to help me develop a full understanding of what Forced Perspective looks like. Almost every picture I found was absolutely amazing in how the picture was taken at the perfect moment and in the perfect area. Each picture was a clear example of Forced Perspective and when I began the final portion of the project, #itriedmybest to do the same with my pictures. Obviously the only area which was available to me was Apex High School #lame #disinterestedness. Due to this predicament the pictures that I took were not as cool as someone on top of a mountain or someone in an exotic place. Nevertheless, I took pictures that accurately represent Forced Perspective. The first picture that was taken is a picture of me in which I appear to be holding a sign far larger than I am. In order to make the picture look like this I stood on a lower level of the ground then where the actual sign is placed. This gives the illusion that the sign is far larger than I am and I am able to wield it in my hand. The second picture taken is of my hand holding a pole. In reality the pole is huge and there is no way I would be able to fit my hand around it, however, by using Forced Perspective I was able to make it look as if my hand could fit around the entire pole. I positioned the camera in just the right way so that it made the pole look a certain size that would be able to be held in my hand. What I feel was most #successful about this project was my ability to correctly apply Forced Perspective when taking pictures, thus creating a whole new form of art that I have never created before until now.

Project Three - Style

Project Three was about the specific style used by artists around the world from any period of time in history. Rene Magritte (1898 - 1967) was an artist who created artwork within the field of surrealism. Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the 1920s, and is best known for it's visual artworks and writings. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects, and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconsciousness to express itself. Surrealist works usually feature the element of suprise, unexpected juxtapositions, and are non sequitor, however, many artists consider their work to be a philosophical movement first and foremost. Some consider surrealism to be above all, a revolutionary movement. Rene Magritte may in fact be the most famous artist in the field of surrealism. The media I chose to use for this project was colored pencils. What inspired me to create my art was a picture that Rene Magritte painted called La recherché de I'absolu (The search for te absolute). This painting inspired me to create a parody of his work. The actual painting shows a tall tree standing alone, with a perfectly round sphere to the left of  the tree. In the parody I chose to create, I drew a picture of Barad-dûr, which is the tower in the land of Mordor from The Lord of the Rings. To the left of the tower I drew the Eye of Sauron. Barad-dûr takes the place of the tree in Magritte's painting and the Eye of Sauron takes the place of the sphere. In the background I drew mountains and a dark sky resembling the land of Mordor. I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings, which is why I chose to use that specifically as the base for the parody I created. What I feel is most successful about the art I created is how I was able to apply the right colors in the painting to make it look as evil as possible and accurately make it resemble Barad-dûr, the Eye of Sauron, and Mordor. I also think that I was able to create a well constructed parody of an incredible painting by the one and only Rene Magritte.

Project Two - Color

Project Two was about the use of color and how it can be applied to different types of art. Before starting the final portion of the project I created a color wheel and demonstrated different types of shades of purple and orange. I did these two activities to familiarize my self with color. For the project I used the theme When I Awoke, and an analogous color scheme. The media I choose to use for this project was watercolor, a pen, and colored pencils. I used watercolor to paint the background of the painting and used colored pencils to enhance the background by giving it more texture. The pen was used to draw the birds flying through the sky. The painting I chose to do was a painting of the morning sky with birds flying in the distance. I was inspired to create this painting when I thought of what it is I see when I awake. One of the first things I thought of was how the sky tends to look early in the morning. I also thought of what would be in the sky very early in the morning and I imagined a group of birds flying in the tranquil morning sky. The reason for the sky being so fascinating early in the morning is because of the profound colors which dominant the sky. As night fades away and the light of day is begins to arise, the sky develops a dark purple color along with some blue , and a bit of orange and yellow on the horizon as the sun begins to rise. The dark birds flying in the distance add to the effect of a morning sky and catch the eye of people who view the painting. During the course of completing Project Two, I learned a few different things that I had not known before. The first things I learned were different types of color such as primary, secondary, tertiary, and complementary. Two other aspects of color I leaned about were tint and shade. Tint and shade can significantly enhance the painting by making it look more powerful and detailed. Another thing I learned during this project was how to correctly use watercolor when painting the sky. In order to paint the sky, one must take a couple steps to achive their goal. Painting the sky with watercolor requires different layers of paint and the use of water to make certain parts lighter. I also leaned that the correct use of color can make a painting look absolutely astonishing and brings the painting to life. The painting I made uses very distinct shades of  purple, blue, yellow, and orange  which make the sky look detailed and realistic, and the birds flying give the painting life and tie it all together.

Project One - Realism

Project One was about the type of art known as realism. Realism is the art of making  a picture look as realistic as possible through use of contrast, value, and proportion. Contrast is a technique for creating a focal point by using differences in elements. Contrast shows the difference between objects. Contrast is important for details making the picture stand out. Value is the lightness and darkness of color. It clearly shows the difference between parts of the work of art. Proportion is the principle of art concerned with the size relationships of one part to another. Proportion is important due to the realistic and life like effect it gives the art. the media I chose to use for my drawing was a pen and colored pencils. What inspired me to create a drawing of a mug that says "Worlds Best Boss" on it was my love for a show called The Office. The Office was one of my favorite televisions shows and in the show, the main character, Michael Scott, has the exact same mug. My inspiration for drawing a hand wielding a sword was The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings films are some of my favorite films of all time and I thought it would be cool to try and draw a hand holding a sword. During this project I leaned a few different things. One thing I learned was that trying to make a work of art as realistic as possible is not as easy as  I previously thought. It takes much practice in mastering the different techniques that make artwork appear to be very realistic. I also learned how to improve on certain aspects of my art as I progressed through the project. The final thing I really learned how to do is to be able to apply myself when working on artwork I am creating in order to make it the best work of art I am capable of making.