Human Head

This self portrait of the artist Paul Cezanne can be considered both realistic and idealistic.  It is realistic because the painting is of a specific person.  You can tell that the painting is not just a reproduced picture of any face because it has distinct features.  It is idealistic though because the features appear to be perfect.  For example, in the man’s beard there does not seem to be a hair out of place. 

face

This is a portrait by Todd Doney of a musical Artist known as Bob Marley. It is a realistic drawing that utilizes what looks like pastels. At first you just see it as an average face but when you look a little more closely at it you begin to notice some colors that don’t belong. The artist also makes use of the negative and positive space. The actual face of bob Marley is the positive, and the background is negative. He also uses the negative grey space to create a shine on his face.

8 years

This is a video of a guy who took a picture of himself everyday for eight years.  You can see various things like hair style and clothing change in each picture; and then there are other things like hair length and shape of face that change at a more gradual pace. I think he chose his face because it is the easiest body part to put in the same position every time and that it shows the most change over time.  I thought this was interesting and very creative.

Emily

the human head

This sculpture I saw in Venice, Italy;  it was placed at the entrance of a church.  It is meant to have ugly or scary features to scare away bad spirits from entering the church.  I believe it is a stylized piece of work because it does not represent an actual person.  The sculpture contains simplified features and could be anyone.  It followed a set of rules to serve a particular purpose (being to scare spirits).  It does not depict an actual person.

-Dana-Lynn

head

This head is of the Buddha, a religious figure in many Asian countries.  This head is idealized because there is not enough detail to make the Buddha look like it is representing one specific person from real life. All images of Buddha show him in the same expression and with similar facial decoration. Buddha was actually a historical person, but the images of Buddha are trying to represent the godliness of his being by showing him beautified, making him more of a symbol of enlightenment and peace than trying to be like a specific person.

Cleopatra

This painting is one of Egypt's most powerful leaders...Cleopatra. In this painting, she is idealized as well as representational. Looking at this painting, one can see right away that it is Cleopatra and not just a random woman. The jewelry and head ware she has on implies power. Her features are strong and conveys a sense of seriousness to the person observing the artwork.

Head III

 This piece of art is known as Head III and is by Francis Bacon who was an English artist during the twentieth century. The painting is of a english man's head but with a violent twist. The artists obsession with flesh, violence and movement really shows through this painting. It has a naturalistic aspect because of the certain features of the face but also has an abstract aspect with the sense of movement of flesh. The focal point of the painting is in what is known as the "dead spot" and the amount of negative space draws the attention straight to the main figure.

John Marchetti

This is a statue of the Roman God Neptune. It is idealized because aspects of a belief system is used rather than a record of a person that the sculptor knew and studied. In other words, there was no real person named Neptune, but what people perceive  Neptune to be. This piece can also be considered naturalistic because it focuses on some special features, which in this case would be Neptune's beard and wrinkles. The emphasis in this piece is clearly Neptune, since the background is black (negative space). This piece is interesting due to the fact that Neptune is looking in a direction where we can't see which makes the viewer wonder what he is seeing and thinking. Neptune, is also not in the "dead-spot" of this picture, but off-center making it less boring to look at. Lastly, there is balance in piece because the black negative space and the white/grayish statue balances off each other.
- John Marchetti

Medusa's head

This representation of a head is Medusa by Bernini. This particular piece is idealized because it is not particularly unique in features and she has the hair of snakes, just like her legend. Also, she is a mythical figure which means that she would be an idealized person to recreate because the idea of Medusa is supported by a set of ideas and beliefs. Her face is very smooth and does not have imperfection, making it not an entirely realistic piece. This representation is not unlike the other Greek representations of mythical beings with its minimal imperfections and almost inhuman-like qualities.

-Leah

Heads

As soon as we started talking about paintings and sculptures of heads in class, the first example that poked its way into my head was the head of Abraham Lincoln on the Lincoln Memorial.  This head is one that can be described as both realistic and also idealized.  It is realistic because it is an accurate (in terms of detail) sculpture based on a specific historical figure.  The features of this sculpture are very realistic as the viewer can see the texture of Lincoln's face and facial hair.  He is also made with the facial expression that is the same as the one he is wearing in many photographs.  This tells the viewer that this is a real expression and is not simply made up by the sculptor.  However this statue can also be considered idealized because of the larger-than-life scale it was made to.  This is a massive statue that represents the power and influence that Lincoln led this country with during his presidency.  The size of the sculpture shows how influential Lincoln was during his time and the importance that this country puts on remembering him as a great leader.

This sculpture is called "Mask II" made by artist Ron Mueck. It is simply a sleeping man's head lying on its side. This piece was meant to be extremely realistic considering he represented an actual person: himself. He made sure to include every hair, vain, stress line, and point on his face to make his art come to life. If you look closely, you can see the immense detail, such as the teeth in his almost closed mouth. However, he played with abstraction by altering the size of the art to make a statement/impact. This sculpture is as tall as your average human. But still, it's tremendous how real it looks. A person was quoted saying, "Stand beside it for a moment, and you'll swear you can hear him snore".

--Alexis Swoyer

This piece which is a depiction of an ordinary human head is called Nirvana, designed by a South Korean artist Seo Young Deok. This head is made from old bicycle chains and took about a year to create. This piece is stylized because it isn't representing one particular person, it is representing just an average human head. Even though this sculpture is made from bicycle chains, the detail in the face, such as the eyes, mouth, and nose are very specific.
-Rose Migliara

Content: The Human Head

This scuplture is entitled "Head of a Girl" by Alphonse Mucha. This sculpture was composed in 1900 and is made of bronze, silver, and parcel gilt. The scale of the piece is 29 x 10 x 22. Mucha's scultpure is stylized. The title even suggests that the piece is stylized because it is just "a girl" not a specific person. Mucha decorates the girl with a headdress that makes her appear regal, though still not identifiable as a certain person. The girl's face is very symmetrical which adds to her beauty. Her eyes are also closed displaying a sort of calm despite her warrior-like accessories. Since Mucha uses silver and bronze, the light reflects off the scultpure, highlighting certain parts, such as the cheeks, of the girl's face. Mucha had considered lighting when making this piece. The symmetrical nature of this piece implies balance as well.

The picture that our group chose to do is clearly a common one amongst the class. It is the the photo mural by Lahore called, "In the Courtyard of the Hazrat Mian Shrine". It was in our minds, the most realistic piece of artwork in the gallery. The feathers of the birds were extremely detailed creating a very significant amount of texture in the piece. It looks as if all of the birds are amount to take flight following the ones which already have. It is sort of a controlled chaos that is happening. Overall, this was our favorite work in the gallery.

-Sam