Starry night edvard munch analysis

Compare/Contrast Essays——

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Compare/Contrast Essay

In order to learn some of the basic skills necessary to research and develop a formal analysis of a work of art, you will write 2 Compare/Contrast essays> Each essay will compare two works of art found in the textbook. The selection of artworks for each paper is up to the student, but must be selected only from chapters covered in our course (and it is recommended that you choose works that we have covered in our reading previous to the due date of the assignment). You may not write about any work of art that you have already written about in your weekly Discussion Boards. Please read all 4 pages of this assignment sheet before beginning your work.

Your formal analysis must be:

- minimum two FULL pages (maximum 2.5 pages)

- double-spaced in a 12-point legible font

- MLA format with a Works Cited page. (See the MLA Style Guide found under Course

Documents)

- The title of paintings, sculptures, photographs, printmaking works of art should ALWAYS be in

ITALICS

- Be certain of what medium of art you are referring to. Not all works of art are “pictures”; do a

little research and refer to it as a painting, sculpture, work of architecture, photograph, etc.

-Wikipedia is not an acceptable source. This is a user generated with little to no fact checking

so the information cannot be considered reliable.

The first stage of your analysis is to find information about the works and their respective artists, and to document that information. Use the sheet provided to help you gather important information. Be sure to include information about the possible artist influences and reference any special subject matter depicted in the works. After you have had a chance to research the basic information about your particular works of art, try to describe it using the elements of art that we have discussed in class.

The second stage of the assignment will include taking the information you have about the works (including your analysis of the elements of art, subject matter and artistic media), and presenting it in essay form.

The third and last stage of your analysis will be to refine your writing and to make any changes necessary before the next class. THIS FINAL DRAFT IS DUE, ATTACHED TO THE SUBMISSION POINT, BY SUNDAY AT 11:59 P.M. OF THE SESSION IN WHICH IT IS DUE. SEE COURSE CALENDAR AND SESSION FOLDERS FOR DUE DATES.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT:

• All sources should be cited and included in the Works Cited page. Citations should be in MLA format. Plagiarism will result in a zero (0) for the assignment and the responsibility for proof regarding the originality of a paper rests with you, not the instructor.

• If you are absent on the due date it is your responsibility to make sure the paper or project is still turned in on time.

• Late papers and projects may be accepted with the following late penalties:

o If it is turned in within 24 hours of the due date there will be a 10% reduction.

o After 24 hours and up to 2 DAYS there will be a 50% reduction.

o After 2 DAYS the paper or project will no longer be accepted for credit.

Compare/Contrast Essay –

The Formal Analysis

Your analysis will consist of two typewritten pages about the works that you have chosen. This analysis will be in paragraph form, with an introductory paragraph, a conclusion paragraph, and at least three body paragraphs. Your formal analysis must be two full pages, double-spaced in a 12-point legible font (Times New Roman preferred), and in MLA format with a Works Cited page. Each paragraph should be composed of at least three sentences, with no sentence more than three lines long.

Some of the things that you may want consider in your analysis are:

Subject matter – What is depicted in these works? Does the subject matter include any images from ancient mythology or Biblical stories? Is the subject matter a reflection of the time and place in which the artists lived? Were these works done for a famous patron? Include the name of the donor(s) sponsoring the work, if these people are known.

Artistic media – How were these works made, and what are they made from? Are these artists known for any special techniques in their work? How do these works compare with other works from this artist or other artists from the same era?

Elements of Art – Describe each one for your works; also consider the Principles of Design in your analysis.

Be sure to provide smooth transitions between all of your paragraphs. Examples: “Another way that the artist has shown the relationship between colors in the work is…. The quick, broken use of line is mirrored in the texture through…. As we move along the face, we also see….”

Spelling and grammar are as important to your piece as any other aspect of the work, if not more so. If your work has spelling or grammatical errors, then it is clear that you have not put much effort into the piece and your grade will be affected.

Helpful Websites for Preparing the Compare/Contrast Essay

Writing a Compare/Contrast Art History Essay, from the Academy of Art University

http://arc.academyart.edu/writing/essay.asp

Writing the Art History Paper, from the Dartmouth University Writing Program

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/arthistory.shtml

Compare/Contrast Guide, from the ReadWriteThink Site

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/compcontrast/

Helpful Art Links

Mark Harden's Artchive

-click on the Mona Lisa to access a listing of artists and their work http://www.artchive.com/

Christopher Witcombe's Art History Resources on the Web

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/

Worldwide Art Resources

http://wwar.com/

Researching a Work of Art: Gathering the Basics

Use this paper as a guide in the analysis of each of your works of art. You may want to make two copies of this sheet – one for each work.

Artist: _________________________________________________________________

Year born/year died: ____________________________________________________

Influences? _____________________________________________________________

Style associated with this artist: __________________________________________

During the phase from the late 19th to early 20th century, the Post-Impressionism emerged, a unique avant-garde art with artists’ independent personal aesthetics that sought to progress beyond the narrow imitative style of empirical Realism and Impressionism. This style was derived from a group of young painters such as Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat in order to create more monumental and universal art (Davies et al. 528). Furthermore, right after the rise of the Post-Impressionism, a strange dreamlike imagery called Symbolism appeared. This Symbolist otherworldly aesthetic of fantasy, escapism and psychology that rejected Naturalism and Realism flourished throughout Europe (Collins). In fact, Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch painter, was one of the pioneers of Post-Impressionism while Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter, was also associated with the international development of Symbolism and recognized as a precursor of Expressionism (Hood). In this essay, I will compare and contrast two of their legendary masterpieces, both of which reflect the artists’ nervousness, but depict different atmospheres of scenery: The first is Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh drawn in 1889, and the second is The Scream by Edvard Munch drawn in 1893.

Both Gogh and Munch, who are pioneers of Post-Impressionism and Symbolism, struggled with insanity during their lifetimes, and consequently painted ominous imageries with swirling energy, which reflect their unstable mental states. Gogh was such a deeply troubled and depressed man who inconsistently yearned for universal harmony and humanitarian craving. Consequently, majority of his paintings mirrors his intense, uncontrollable emotions which accentuate personal symbolic vocabulary in expressionistic ways (Davies et al. 534). This is well represented in his painting, Starry Night. Compared to other beautifully depicted objects in the background, there is the most eye-catching and ambiguous large cypress tree dominating the foreground. Because this was painted during a sad period of Gogh’s life, the sinister presence of the massive dark isolated tree would surely reflect the depressed artist. Moreover, Munch also explored the expressive representation of emotions and personal relationships as he extended the obsessive personal nature of his subjects into universal symbols of emotional states (Hood). In The Scream, he showed an honest and ugly glimpse of his inner troubles and feeling of his anxiety. The main figure, unappealing androgynous creature clasping hands to a skull-like head, is gasping with expressions of fear and anxiety. Since he struggled with insanity not only on a personal level, but also through his family, it is clear that he put more importance on personal meaning in his painting then on technical skill or traditional view of beauty (Shabi).

However, Starry Night portrays peaceful and beautiful scenery with shining stars in a nocturnal sky whereas The Scream captures a horrifying anxiety of a grotesquely compressed writhing figure. Also, the colors used in each painting create totally antithetical atmospheres. Closely examining Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night, this painting has strong religious overtones since Gogh attempted to draw the utopia with the peaceful tranquility of unpretentious people living in nature and harmony, all of which he dreamed (Davies et al. 534). The night sky is filled with spectacular cosmic events – joyous swirling clouds, luminescent stars with yellow haloes. Below the sky and rolling hills of the horizon lies a small town, snugly ensconced in a valley. Gogh uses exaggerated and thick sweeping brushstrokes to visualize what he wanted the world to be. In fact, he conveys the strong feelings of hope through the bright lights of the stars shining down the dark nocturnal landscape, other than just insanity and isolation (Shabi). However, in The Scream, everything is twirling and swirling with dark vivid colors which create a threatening dismal atmosphere. This scene is also believed to be prompted by the violent eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa in 1883. Witnessing such an apocalyptic display of colors in Oslo, Munch might have intended to depict the ugly sounds of living beings undergoing both physical and emotional sufferings in the modern age through bright exaggerated colors and simplistic shapes (Shabi).

To conclude, both Gogh and Munch are representative artists of the late 19th and early 20th century who each developed Post-Impressionism and Symbolism. Both of the artists suffered from craziness, but their hysteria eventually made them to create two of the most reproduced and famous pieces of art in the world today: Starry Night embodies an inner, subjective expression of Gogh’s response to nature, and The Scream deals with awe-inspiring nature and emotional life, presumably applicable to all modern humans.

Works Cited

Collins, Neil. “Symbolism.” Art Encyclopedia. Visual-arts-cork.com, 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.

Davies, Penelope J.E., et al. Janson’s Basic History of Western Art. 9th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2009. Print.

Hood, William. “Munch, Edvard.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.

Shabi, K. “Meaning of The Scream (1893) painting by Edvard Munch: Art Analysis.” Online Literary Journal and Magazine. Legomenon, 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2013

Shabi, K. “Starry Night: Meaning of the Vincent Van Gogh landscape painting.” Online Literary Journal and Magazine. Legomenon, 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2013