Art Detectives: Everyday Life Examples

Art Detectives

    It is no doubt that “Art a Brief History” has accomplished interpreting the contextual background and significance while making commentary.  The goal, however, is to help the students who read this textbook to recognize and appreciate the central role that art and architecture have played in human history. The Art Detectives portion is only a fraction of what our peers have learned!

 The Influence

    We see artistic elements every day! Below are some provided examples.

 (Figure 5) Gardens of the Getty Villa - Chelsy Librado

    One of our group members independently chose this image as the Getty Villa’s Roman-inspired characteristics are visible as they ride down Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) on their way to the beach for a weekly ride. Our peer mentions “I have always noticed the tall columns but never thought they were Roman-inspired!”

     The Getty Villa is widely known for being a museum dedicated to Roman, Greek, and Etruscan ancient art. The Gardens of the Getty Villa has numerous Roman and Greek elements in just this particular image. Examples of this would include the coffers and the ionic pillars. Coffers, as seen on the structure in the Garden of the Getty Villa, are the little square designs in the ceiling, a Roman element seen on works of architecture such as the famously known Pantheon located in Rome. The pillars in the Gardens of the Getty villa are Ionic pillars. They are one of the three types of Greek pillars. Some characteristics that ionic pillars have are the decorative capital that looks like a scroll. The column also has a decorative base. A reference to Ionic pillars could also be the Pantheon, which is Roman, but also the Erechtheion which is Greek.

 The Influence

    We see artistic elements every day! Below are some provided examples.

(Figure 8) The Last Supper - Chelsy Librado

One of our group members independently chose this image of “The Last Supper,” painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, hung on the wall in their dining room. Our peer mentions, “When I see this portrait now I can’t help but notice details I have never noticed before.”

“The Last Supper” was originally created by Leonardo Da Vinci, but because of its popularity has been recreated into frames such as the one in my dining room. The infamous Last Supper depicts the twelve disciples having supper with Jesus for the last time and learning that one of them, Judas, will betray Jesus by turning him into the authorities. 

There are a lot of artistic techniques in this work of art. One main technique is linear perspective which is using the ideas of a vanishing point, horizon line, and orthogonal in an attempt to create 3-D space on something that is flat. The vanishing point, in this case, is Jesus’s face which centers Jesus in the middle of everything. The horizon line runs along all of the disciple's eyes which demonstrates where Da Vinci wanted the viewer to see at eye level. The orthogonal lines are the diagonal lines drawn to create the depth. All of these elements work together to create the illusion of creating depth in something two dimensional. 

Another artistic element would be adding the coffers. To me this is interesting as coffers, the little squares in the ceiling, are typically seen in 3-Dimensional architecture, a clear example being the Parthenon in Rome. In “The Last Supper,” however, the coffers are drawn in as part of the orthogonal lines to create that realistic depth on a flat surface.

 The Influence

    We see artistic elements every day! Below are some provided examples.

(Figure 6) Griffith Observatory - Araceli Mancilla

    The Griffith Observatory is one of LA’s landmarks to tourists known for its various appearances in movies, for being a place to learn more about astronomy, and see the amazing view of LA, but to LA residents the Griffith Observatory is just a view one sees on a regular hike to the Griffith Park trails. One of our members frequently hikes at the Griffith Park Trails. Our peer mentions, “I always knew this building had certain characteristics that other buildings had, but I never really knew what they were or what they were called.  Now I can easily point out specific details and explain where the inspiration for the Griffith Observatory came from just based on these specific details.” 

    The Griffith Observatory is a facility in Los Angeles, sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood. This observatory is a popular tourist attraction with a close view of the Hollywood sign, a beautiful view of the sky, and science-related displays. Admission for this display has been free since the opening of the observatory in 1935. 

    There are a lot of artistic techniques in this piece of architecture. What stands out the most in this piece of architecture would be the pantheon cross-section, which is a perfect sphere-like shape inside and out of the building, which is the copper-covered domes. This technique was mainly influenced by Ancient Rome. 

Conclusion 

    These three examples have shown us how far we have come along with noticing little details when we come across any piece of art. The textbook “Art: A Brief History” did a great job of providing a great example and explanation for every artwork. After reading a few chapters of the textbook, students will be able to start to notice that we are surrounded by art that has been influenced by many for years. This textbook not only educates us about the history of art but how art has progressed through the years. Without a doubt, however, we believe “Art: A Brief History” is missing a few elements and can replace them with repetitive ones.