My Art Class Critique Paper

  Hi Everyone!

     I just thought I would share the the paper I wrote this week for my art class, just to see what people thought, or if they had different opinions. I'll post a picture copy of the art work I critiqued. Please do not plagiarize my paper! I am posting it so that others can share their opinions with me, and discuss the painting. Thank you. Enjoy! :)

Painting:ANGELICA KAUFFMAN, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures, 1785.

Oil on canvas, 40″ × 50″. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.                                               

Shari Lazar

Professor Melodie Mackey

Art V160

28 October 2013

Art Critique

     Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Treasure, by Angelica Kauffman, is beautiful and enlightening. This painting was created by Angelica Kauffman in the year 1785 (Lewis 346). I am assuming that this painting was created in Rome, Italy, because our text The Power of Art by Richard Lewis and Susan I. Lewis, states that Angelica eventually settled there (Lewis 346). This piece of art is rectangular, measuring 40” by 50” according to illustration 16-4 (Lewis 346).

     Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Treasures was born from neoclassicism. It conforms to neoclassicism because of its simplicity, modesty, and ability to teach a moral lesson to the viewer. It visualizes a widowed mother, Cornelia, showing her friend that she values her children more than anything else.

     The medium used for this work is oil paint on canvas. It uses warm realistic colors, which are muted by black and grey shading. Light is used to illuminate the room that the characters stand in, and shadow is used in places where light cannot touch. There is play between the two, because the light that the characters block, casts a shadow in the direction the light would be shining. I can tell that the work is balanced, because of the simplicity of the painting. If it were unbalanced, it would be harder to focus on the story that Angelica Kauffman was trying to tell. When I look at this painting, my attention isn’t drawn to a single spot. I look at the painting in its entirety so that I can understand the story it tells. It does however suggest movement. For example, Cornelia points to her children to show her friend what means most to her. In my own opinion I would say that it is organic for its naturalistic features. Angelica Kauffman used linear perspective in this work. This is because forms that seem closer appear larger than those meant to be farther from the viewer. Although this is a painting, and is only two dimensional, Angelica used line, color, and form to give Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Treasures some depth. All of these elements are configured in an asymmetrical balance to add visual weights.

     When I saw and read about this piece, I literally could feel the maternal love that the painting expresses, and it reminded me of how much I love my son, Brayden, and how special he is to me. I think it made me feel this way, because you can see the character of Cornelia surrounded by her three children. She even holds her daughter’s hand while explaining to the other woman how much her children mean to her. I think that Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Treasures is a success as an artwork, because the artist Angelica Kauffman was experienced with the neoclassical style of painting. As I said before, it adheres to the rules of neoclassical art, because of it meets the goal of teaching a moral lesson, and it uses clear line, color, and form.