Boulevard des Capucines

Boulevard des Capucines by Claude Monet is an oil painting on canvas from 1873-1874.

• The blurriness of the the people create a sense of motion and time. This contrasts with the people that have more sharp lines, who are most likely standing still.
• This painting is almost monochromatic except for the slightly greenish-brown color and peach-colored splotches. Because blue is associated with cold temperatures, the painting has a cold feeling.
• The buildings and implied lines of the trees and people draw your eye up and down the painting.
• While the whole painting has a "fuzzy" feel, there is atmospheric perpective as the definition towards the horizon loses clarity.

Between Red_044

Between Red_044 is an oil on linen painting made by Seahyun Lee in 2008.

• This painting is clearly monocromatic (as denoted by its title).
• The negative space, which fills up much of the linen, forms a jagged shape that could be interpreted to resemble a variety of objects. Personally, I think the negative space resembles the shape of a dragon.
• By observing the varying sizes of buildings throughout the painting, the scale indicates the depth and distance of the various mountain ranges. 
• By using different shades of red, Lee depicted very detailed textures in the mountains and trees.

33

33 is a magazine collage made by Carl Plate in 1945.

• The proportion of the pig to the man is obviously very abnormal. Normals proportions of humans to pigs are reversed in this collage, capturing your attention.
• Plate skillfully incorporated pictures to make it appear as though the source of light is coming from one side. The shadow on the doll matches the shadow on the pig.
• Because of the text on the left, it would seem that the pig and man go together. Therefore, the presence of the doll gives the collage a feeling of randomness. The unclear meaning of the number 33 also adds to the randomness. 
• The matching colors of the paper of the text and number 33 draws attention to those two details amidst the otherwise black and white collage.

O the Roast Beef of Old England (The Gate of Calais')

O the Roast Beef of Old England (The Gate of Calais') is an oil painting on canvas made by William Hogarth in 1748.

• This painting creates depth with one point perspective, as the lines of the building lead to one vanishing point in the distance.
• The gazes of the people guide you to the focal point of this painting, which is the roast beef (as hinted by the title).
• Hogarth used major differences in lighting to emphasize the focal point. The meat (aside from the sky) is the most lit and saturated part of the painting while the beggars in the foreground face into the darkness. Therefore, there is a sense of subordination in this painting. Through this, I think Hogarth was trying to communicate a message about society and aiding the poor.
• The lower position of the beggars indicates that they are closer to the viewer, and they create a frame for the scene.

Freedom of the Human Spirit

Freedom of the Human Spirit is a plaster sculpture made by Marshal Fredericks in 1964.

• The diagonals of the two people's bodies and birds give the sculpture a sense of motion. Because this sculpture is in the round, the smooth diagonal lines can be viewed from any angle.
• Conceptual unity draws this peace together. Because flight is associated with freedom, Fredericks is equating the freedom and flight of the people to that of graceful birds.
• The texture of this sculpture is very smooth, which matches the gliding and flying forms.
• The smaller base of the sculpture makes it feel as though the figures are shooting out and up. This leads you to focus on the figures that appear to be floating.

Love's Mirror or A Parable of Love

Love's Mirror or A Parable of Love is black pen and ink over pencil with ink wash on paper made by Dante Gabriel Rossetti sometime from 1850-1852.

• Rossetti uses hatching and cross hatching to create differing values throughout the drawing.
• The pattern on the brunette's dress draws more attention to her because it contrasts with solid clothes of everyone else.
• The emphasis is on the faces of the couple. The woman's face is seen in real life, the painting, and the mirror, and the man gazes directly into the mirror. This drawing seems to want to show that there are multiple sides to everything. Even the two facial expressions of the ladies in the background add to this idea.

House

House is a stone sculpture made by Dong Hun Sung in 2001.

• Due to the preconceived notion of stone being heavy, this sculpture seems to have a lot of mass.
• The top part of the sculpture that looks like a house has an open volume while the lower rock has a closed volume.
• This sculpture is monochromatic because the natural color of the rock does not deviate from the same hue, and Sung simply added white to the house and one side of the sculpture. 
• The geometric form of the top house and straight edge on the side contrasts with the raw organic form and texture of the unaltered rock. The white paint highlights this divide between geometric and organic.