Assignment

I want to you to write a research paper at least 4 full pages about the painting attached. only the text must be four pages that is not including the first page, the picture, and the references page. it most has at least 4 an academicsources. and you will find the instruction with attachment. please follow it. thanks.

The instructions for the layout of the paper as follows:

1. The paper is to be at least 4 full pages (Not counting bibliography), 1.5 spacing, 11 pt. Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins at top, bottom and sides, and justified side margins. Failure to follow any of the layout criteria will result in an automatic loss of 5 points. You will turn in both a hard copy and a copy through Safe Assign, which we will discuss in class.

2. You may use APA style.

3. After the 4 full pages of text, page 5 will be a picture of the work you have chosen.

4. Page 6 will be the Bibliography or Works Cited page. In addition to other sources, you must have at least 8 sources, 4 or which must be academic sources or scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. If you have difficulty finding these types of sources, you must see me ASAP. You may not use Wikipedia for anything other than pictures.

Whether you are discussing a painting, sculpture, or any other piece of art, you are to follow the criteria used whenever one critiques a work of art. You will give

1. the biographical information (title, artist, date, country).

2. description with enough detail to create a clear verbal picture of what you have chosen.

3. historical context. This is where the majority of your research will lie.

You must give

A. info about the artist (short bio that includes info about h/his other work)

B. information about significant historical events or context in which the work was created that is relevant to the particular art movement and/or the art itself,

C. the style of painting/sculpture or movement that your chosen piece is representative of,

D. the characteristics the piece has that are representative of that style or movement,

4. analysis of the work. This, as you know, is the discussion of the various elements of the work itself.

5. your interpretation.

Your interpretation/argument must be supported by the facts that you included earlier in the paper.

6. value.

This will include the importance or value of the work when it was first created as well as now with supporting detail.

Date: 1768. Retouched 1819.
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
Location: Gallery 2

Description:

Venus Lamenting the Death of Adonis may be Benjamin West's most beautiful painting on a mythological theme. The subject is Venus's love affair with the mortal youth Adonis, as recounted in Ovid's Metamorphoses. This Neo-classical painting has many classical elements. Remember that all paintings tell a story, not only that which the painting depicts as in this one of the love story of Venus and the human Adonis, but also the story the painter wants to tell. This one is no exception.

West places the figures of Venus and her dead lover in a shady, secluded area similar to the poplar grove described early in Ovid's story. Low clouds provide an intimate, protective setting for pictorial elements that West borrowed freely from other parts of the narrative: Cupid, the swans that draw Venus's chariot, Adonis's hounds chasing the wild boar onto the yellow sand in the distance, and the sprouting anemones.

Neo-classical was the painting tradition of the early 19th Century. It was based on the rules of the ancient Greeks, including symmetry, balance, and emotional restraint, all of which can be seen in West's painting. The figures themselves are utterly calm, and West has painted them with tight, geometric precision, most obvious in Venus's Grecian profile and in the circle made by the torsos of Venus and Adonis. The result is perfectly in keeping with the noble ideals and elevated sentiments of history painting, for which West became a key representative.

As you first look at this painting, you see the dark colors in the low clouds and the tree, a few shrubs, Adonis's blood on the cold dark ground, the expressions on Venus' and Cupid's faces as they kneel beside Adonis. The two swans in the background have their heads down as if they, too, are mourning.

However, when you step back and really looked at this painting, you notice much more. Notice how Venus, Cupid, and Adonis seem to form a circle in the center of the painting. Your eye tends to move in a clockwise position from one to the other to form a central composition that stands out from the rest of the painting. The light on Adonis reveals his morbidity. Although you can't really see it on the power point, you will see more clearly on the large museum painting the thin strip of blood just above Adonis' drape. As the classical Greeks believed it undignified to show emotion, Neo-classical artists also refrained from anything that was too dramatic or would create too much emotion such as showing too much blood although the blood from the boor's wound is evident under the drape.

Red anemones spring from the earth where the drops of Adonis's blood fell. In ancient mythology, anemones symbolize passion, blood, and death. Therefore, the anemones also represent Adonis' death. In another version of the story, the anemones were white before the death of Adonis, whose blood turned them red.

Flowers have always (since the time of the Greeks and maybe before that) symbolized both life and death. They are always part of celebrations of life such as birth and marriages; moreover, because their own life is so short, they also symbolize death. However, they have come to symbolize death and spiritual rebirth (reason why flowers are given at funerals). Therefore, the presence of the anemones coupled with the distant sun may symbolize the hope of future spiritual life for Adonis.

Notice the Venus' face. How would you explain her expression and what could it mean?

In the mythological story, Venus warned Adonis not to hunt by himself for he could be killed. Venus fell in love with Adonis, a mortal, after she was scratched by Cupid's arrow. She loved to hunt with him and spend much of her time on earth. She had warned Adonis not to hunt by himself. He did not listen and hunted by himself. She heard his cried from above the earth as it rose toward Mt. Olympus. She turned her swan chariot around and went back to earth where the scene of the painting is shown.

Benjamin West was born on October 10, 1738 in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He is an American painter who is famous for painting historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence. From an early age Benjamin had a natural gift to paint and his parents encouraged him to draw. After the family moved to Lancaster, Native American Indians taught West how to make paint by mixing some clay from the river bank with grease in a pot.

West was one out of ten children and had very little education. One of his earliest paintings such as "Death of Socrates" was encouraged by one of his father's patrons from the inn the family owned. By the age of fifteen he was known as a local celebrity.

West attracted the attention of Dr. William Smith, the provost of the College of Philadelphia. He decided to patronize West, offering him an education and more important connections to the wealthy and politically connected Pennsylvanians. West leaned toward historical topics in his paintings and eventually went to Italy where he learned the newest painting techniques and expanded his repertoire by copying pieces of works from painters such as Titan and Raphael, Renaissance painters.

In 1763 West moved to England, where he was commissioned by King George III to create portraits of the members of the royal family. While in England West painted his most famous painting; "The Death of General Wolfe" in 1770. West founded the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768. In 1772 King George made him his historical painter. West never forgot his American upbringing and always kept an open door policy for American artists traveling abroad. He instructed them with studio instruction, entrance into galleries and collections and access to the Royal Academy.

In 1820 Benjamin West died in London. Today West is known for his large scale history paintings, which use expressive figures, colors and compositional themes to help the spectator to identify with the scene represented. West called this "epic representation."

Attachment:- Painting.rar