Contemporary Artist: Jerome Witkin

"Jeff Davies" (top left)
      Jerome Witkin likes to paint realistic figures in realistic but grungy looking settings.  He is also known for a lot of work relating to or about the Holocaust.  This piece is a simple portrait of a common working man who seems to be quite overweight with the addition of a thick coat.  The fabric is painted very well and out of focus areas are left to show a sense of depth in an interesting way.


"Are You Here?" (right)
      The story behind this painting is that Witkin was trying to find the proper pose for his most beautifl model but had failed to do so until she broke pose and casually turned her gaze away when he quickly captured the moment.  I love the scatter of arbitrary objects that gives the studio space the feel of most every studio space I have worked in.  The high level of detail and still life starts to flatten the image as a whole, though.


"The German Girl" (bottom left)
      This nightmarish painting is one of Witkin's Holocaust themed works that suggests the ghosts of the past have returned to haunt the young girl.  This may suggest that there are deeds to be answered for or horrible things gone forgotten that need to be remembered.

Contemporary Artist: Vincent Desiderio

"Boating Party" (top left)
   I have decided that Desiderio paints figures in realistic space as if those people were objects in a still life.  There is often a sense of exasperation or a lack of liveliness to the people he chooses to paint.  I love the sense of depth in this piece with the many layers of figures and objects.  The colors seem to be from a realistic palette instead of muted with contrast or shadows.  Even though there are two human bodies, there is no suggestion of life from either of them.

"Interpretation of Color" (right)
     Again in this paiting there are varied levels to provide the illusion of depth in the painting.  deeper areas are granted richer colors to show depth.  The man is fainted or dead on the floor.  There is no sign of life in the man in this painting which arouses many questions and even further questions by the array of artist books scattered across the floor.  There does seem to be an atmospheric quality to this piece as you get farther away from the center, a turquoise blue cloudiness. 

"Sink" (bottom left)
     This woman was apparently drowned in a sink the transluscency of her attire is curious but impressive.  Besides the more healthy looking tones of her arms, legs, and torso, her head seems to be a lighter shade of blue which suggests suffocation or that maybe her head is still underwater.

Contemporary Artist: Jacob Collins

"Candace Profile" (top right)
      Jacob Collins specializes in creating hyper-realistic nude figures.  I chose this artist because I am still working on becoming better at rendering faces and it is easy to see the contours of the faces of these people unobstructed in profile or portrait.  It is interesting to see how he captured the change in tone across her torso and face.  This is obviously an expert rendering of te female figure.

"Thinking Man" (left)
      Another great example of figural rendering.  There are great highlights across his head and his arm and legs.  there seems to be some rotation in the figure's back that doesnt make sense to me from the position of the man's legs and the shading in the curved muscles of his back seem slightly flat but still a very impressive piece.  His head bends down in contemplation looking towards his knees with most of his weight leaning back on his arms. The front of his body is lit in contrast to the flat colors of the background.

"Santiago Sheila" (bottom right)
      A nude male and female figure lay on a flat sheeted surface presumably a bed.  The man is clearly the focus of the frame and is in a position of contemplation.

Contemporary Artist: Lucien Freud

"Leigh on a Green Sofa" (top right)
     This work is more like what we have done in studio looking at just nude models posing for extended periods of time.  It is a very quick interpretation of light and shadow over the figure and a snapshot of the musculature and skin positions of the stretched out moment in time.  I like the washed out green undertone of this image that gives the figure a sense of having been drowned instead of resting.

"Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" (left)
     This paiting is the most expensive painting ever sold while the creating artist was still alive back in the 1990's.  In our studio, we had to draw a figure as if he was extremely engorged with fat and interpret how gravity would react to his body.  The sags and folds of this woman's skin is heavily flowing downward over her sofa and her own body.

"Girl with Closed Eyes" (bottom right)
     This paiting looks like a schematic look at the highly saturated areas of the figural torso and face.  It takes into account both where the shadows and highlights are but also where there is more vibrant fleshy hues. 

Modern Artist: John Singer Sargent

"Wertheimer Sisters" (top left)
     I chose this piece for the dresses the women are wearing to adequately portray the curves of their figures amongst the aray of folds in the shadows and highlights.  Even with very deep color tones and assumed vibrant gilded frames of paintings behind thefigures, the contrast of this piece seems to mute the colors present.  It is not that interesting of a piece with posing figures facing the viewer but very professionally executed.

"El Jaleo" (right)
     This paiting has a much more interesting composition and atmospheric quality.  There is an extreme measure of abstract movement by the dancing figure and her flurry of fabric.  I really like Sargent's dark tone quality and high contrasting figures with very pale skin.

"Madame Gautreau" (bottom left)
     I like the brush strokes that are evident in this painting, The hyper realistic face stands out against the background in both color and painted texture.  Her line of sight appears to be parallel to her extended arm.

Modern Artist: Winslow Homer

"Snap the Whip" (top right)
     Unlike most of the other artists I have chosen, Winslow Homer uses many bright vibrant color schemes but from a more earthy palette.  Most of his work is incorperated into a vast detailed landscape with figures in the foreground as the subject matter.  This painting shows a group of children I learned to be called "crack the whip."

"Waiting an Answer" (left)
     This painting shows an emotional tension between a young man and a young woman.  The man is looking towards the woman while she looks arbitrarily into space in concentration or pondering.  The way the broken light is shown through the tree is reflecting off of both figures in interesting ways.  There is a balance in the duality of the way both figures are positioned on the canvas.

"Watching the Breakers" (bottom right)
     This is my favite piece that I chose by Winslow Homer.  I really enjoy the undersaturated tones of color that illustrate what would potentially be a very powerful natural experience.  I like the uniqueness of the surrounding landscape he chose for this piece.

Modern Artist: Gustave Courbet

"Self-Portrait" (top left)
     The self-portrait of Courbet really captured my attention with his expression.  In his thrown up arms, you can appreciate the attention to detail in the extrusion of tendons and veins that express tension or movement.  The color scheme of the painting is very minimally greyscale with some subtle hues of yellow and green in the background and in his skin, but there is a bright blush of red in his cheeks that suggests embarassment.

"Sleep" (right)
     In an erotic display of lesbian intimacy, Courbet captures a moment of passion between two lovers.  The folds of the fabric are expertly shaded and I was impressed by the rendered glass objects in the foreground.  The dark blue background really contrasts with the pastey white skin of the women.  I just chose this piece because I had never expected to find a painting of two lesbians from this time period.

"Johanna Hiffernan" (bottom left)
     This portrait is another example of Courbet's expertise in showing emotion on human facial expressions.  Although her fingers seem to be in an uncomfortable and unrealistic position and her jawline seems to be overextended, her long rippling hair shows real deptch and shading.