Fine Arts

1. Compare and contrast Adolf von Menzel’s Iron Mills (Das Eisenwalzwerk—Moderne Zyklopen; translated:  The Iron-Rolling Mill–Modern Cyclops; 1875; oil on canvas. Figure 30.3) with Thomas Eakins’ The Agnew Clinic (1889; oil on canvas.  Figure 30.21).  For a clearer view, search for von Menzel’s and for Eakins’ work under Google-Images and upload the Wikimedia image.  Enlarge the images and scroll across the screen, so that you can actually see the details.  Describe each work in a separate paragraph of at least 75 words (total of 150 words for both). 

In a third paragraph, elaborate on the differences and similarities including the explanation of the two different worlds and classes of society reflected in the art works.  What is the context of each work –one a painting of an iron mill in Germany, the other of a medical amphitheater in the United States?  Were both works commissioned or painted by the artist out of his own desire?  Your third paragraph should have a minimum of an additional 50 words.

Information on von Menzel’s work:  http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1312

Information on Eakins’ work: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1800s/1889med/agnewclinic.html

 

2. Which art work in chapter 31 is considered by some critics the “first modern painting” (this is a quote from your textbook, thus, you are asked to find the quote as well as the specific art work to which Fiero’s text refers)?  List the artist, title, date, medium, and figure number, and explain why it is considered the “first modern painting.”  You may quote from the textbook, but do not forget to indicate the page number!  (Only a one-sentence answer is required for this explanation.)

 

3. Look closely at Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912; oil on canvas; figure 32.11).  Read the information in your textbook provided by Fiero on Duchamp’s work as well as the information on Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913; bronce; figure 32.9), and the text on “The Birth of Motion Pictures” (also in your textbook).  Expand your freshly gained knowledge (CRUCIAL) by reading the online text on Duchamp’s work provided by the Philadelphia Museum of Art at: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51449.html.

Describe Duchamp’s painting in detail including the early exhibition experience in Paris (1912 in the Salon des Indépendants) and in New York City (1913 at the Armory Show) in at least 75 words.

Add a paragraph discussing how Duchamp’s interpretation differs from the traditional “reclining nudes in the art” (google the phrase to see examples).  What could this mean for the traditional image of the female in the arts (i.e., what do reclining women do as opposed to women walking down stairs?)?  In the same paragraph, explain the connection between Duchamp’s painting and the beginning of motion pictures.  Write an additional 75 words.