Mona Lisa's Smile Broke a Few Standards of Patriarchy

Art is never finished, only abandoned is a famous saying of Leonardo da Vinci. His life and work bear witness to this fact. His great Mona Lisa took 16 years to become what we see as Mona Lisa today. He was never satisfied, he kept drawing over it time and again. Finally he in fact died without completing it; or it may be more right to say, many times completed it but without finishing or perfecting it.

Apparently the renaissance masterpiece Mona Lisa was commissioned by a businessman to paint the picture of his wife. Perhaps the businessman was never satisfied by what was painted. Whether Mona Lisa was a real woman is still a mystery by itself.

Mona Lisa

When most secular women in paintings had a stiff appearance, Mona Lisa has a relaxed appearance. Mona Lisa has a triangle composition to bring the gaze of the audience directly to her face. And I guess Da Vinci had reason for it. He wanted us to see her face and its features. Most women up to then in secular paintings never looked at the audience, Mona Lisa looks straight at the audience. Even if some women in paintings looked at the audience they never smiled; Mona Lisa smiles at the audience; and she does it with confidence. I think that is the most important fact about the celebrated mysterious smile of Mona Lisa. Da Vinci's paintings were often coded. If we decode Mona Lisa we would find that Leonardo da Vinci broke a few patterns of the patriarchy here. Mona Lisa was never completed; may be it was the businessman who had commissioned it who was never satisfied by the image on canvas. Perhaps Da Vinci's was one of the early resistance for gender equality in history staged by Leonardo da Vinci.

Comments

Early History of Cinema

The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed the birth and rapid evolution of cinema as a new artistic and technological medium. Lets us examine the key innovations, pioneers, and early milestones that shaped the beginnings of cinema, from its precursors in motion photography to the establishment of narrative filmmaking techniques. Study the PDF below (for academic use only) History of Cinema PDF The foundations of cinema can be traced to experiments in capturing and displaying motion through photography. In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge's groundbreaking "The Horse in Motion" used multiple cameras to decompose the movement of a galloping horse into a sequence of still images. This technique presaged the fundamental principle of cinema - the illusion of motion created by rapidly displaying a series of static images. A pivotal moment came in 1888 with Louis Le Prince's "Roundhay Garden Scene." At just 2.11 seconds long, it is recognised by the Guinness Book of

Art as Expression

For centuries, representation was taken to be the central, defining feature of art. The emphasis of Representation theories of art was on the outward aspects of things. In a loose sense of the word, art was primarily concerned with the objective features of the “ external ” world. By the mid 19 th century, artists began to turn inward ; they explored their own subjective experiences. Even while depicting landscapes (external realities) they attempted to register their reactions - the way they felt - about the landscapes. (they were not just mirroring nature) Artists were becoming more attentive to the subjective or “inner” world of experience . That gives birth to a new art theory, “Art as Expression”. Study the PDF below (to be used for educational purposes only) Art as Expression PDF Impressionism, though its an independent art movement, expressed more of the impressions of the passing moment and qualities of light as seen by subjective artists. We can see the beginning

Art Movements: Modern Art to Contemporary Art

There is no precise definition of the term Modern Art: it remains an elastic term, which can accommodate a variety of meanings. Art historically, Modern Art means works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970. A s per artistic style, traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation . A tendency away from the narrative (which was characteristic for the traditional arts). Inclination towards abstraction is characteristic of much modern art. Study the PDFs below (only for academic purpose) Art Movements: Modern Art to Contemporary Art Part I PDF Art Movements: Modern Art to Contemporary Art Part II PDF Impressionism Originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence. Eventually became the world's most famous painting movement. Paved the way for the wholly non-naturalist abstract art of the 20th century. Impressionism focused on the almost impossible task of capturing fleeting moments

Art as Representation

In different times and in different places and in different context Art critiques, thinkers have made efforts to understand the underlying essence of a piece of Art. Most were limited to their own times and philosophy of the world and human persons. Fortkochi, Kerala They were at finding ‘necessary conditions’ and ‘sufficient conditions’ for the truth of the statement that an item is an ‘art work’ . We go back to the first of such an attempt. It was the Greeks who first said, Art is Imitation of nature. And they broadened it saying, Art is Representation. Study the PDF below. (to be used for educational purposes only) Art as Representation PDF Most art we do and we encounter on a day today basis are all imitation of nature. Those who are able to do it best are the best artists. What makes them to be candidates for Art is the attribute of Verisimilitude they posses. More similar they are better they are appreciated. Nothing is an artwork, unless it is an imita

Photojournalism: News Photography

Photographs of happenings that have news values, and reported immediately. Photography of unexpected occurrences / spot news, or breaking news. Most news photographs also have documentary value. Thus serious news photographers are also documentary photographers. Study the PDF below (for academic use only) News Photography PDF Why do we need news photography? The story becomes tangible with a picture: A picture can let the reader see what a person, or a place, or a building, or an event looks like. The picture shows the news. The page becomes attractive and inviting to read: Newspapers without pictures do not make the news easy to read. A page without a picture is just a slab of grey text. It looks boring and many people will not bother to read what is written on it. Provides evidence for the event reported: Since the readers can see it with their own eyes, the photograph takes them to the place of action, and familiarizes them with people and happenings. Two types of News Photos Th

Photography: A Brief History

Camera Obscura Effect The concept of photography began with idea of Camera Obscura. Aristotle (384-322 BC) had spoken about it as a philosophical idea, but never went on to build one. Study the PDF below For Academic purposes only Photography: Brief History PDF Pinhole Camera The first photographic equipment was the pinhole camera. It is a simple camera/box/chamber (light=proof box) without a lens but with a tiny aperture/opening. Invented in the 10 th century, by Ibn al-Haitham (Egyptian Scientist). Here the Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box, which is known as the camera obscura effect. Camera Obscura A pinhole camera with a lens for its tiny opening. Artists used it to get the shape and proportion of images right. Scientists kept discovering and using better optics and lenses to manipulate the image. Images kept improving, but not able to retain images permanently. First Recorded, and Surv

Photography: Depth of Field

Depth of Field is the area of clear vision of the camera. Depth of field is defined as the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image. So, basically it's that which is in focus. Depth of Field Study the PDF below (to be used for educational purposes only) Depth of Field/Focus PDF There are basically two kinds of depths of field. 1. Deep or broad depth of Field 2. Shallow or narrow depth of field We can divide the visual field of a camera into three with reference to distance, namely, foreground, middle ground and background. When all the three grounds are clearly visible it is called deep/broad depth of field. When only one, or not all the grounds, among the three grounds is clearly visible it is called shallow/narrow depth of field. Deep Depth of Field Documentary photographs and news journalistic photographs are mostly taken with deep depth of field. The truth telling capacity of such images are greate

photo.graph.art.design

Search This Blog