Creative Writing #2 Journal: Degas or Vermeer? Post before Friday's 3-20 class
The Star 1878 Edgar Degas
The Milkmaid 1658-1660 Johannes Vermeer oil on canvas
The Girl With The Pearl Earring (not dated) Johannes Vermeer
In John Updike's The Lucid Eye in Silver Town, Jay and his Uncle Quin have a minor disagreement over which artist is better--the Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer or the French Impressionist Edgar Degas. The disagreement not only reveals Jay's early development of arrogance (he haughtily pronounces, "In terms of paint, I think Vermeer makes Degas look sick"), but also reveals something about Updike's own artistic vision. Assuming the young Jay might be a young John Updike (both showed early interest in fine art) and knowing Updike's typical characters and heroes, one can assume that Updike's choice of Vermeer as Jay's favorite artist was carefully chosen. Like Vermeer, John Updike often makes the ordinary character his subject. Often bathed in a beautiful light or doing their jobs with concentration and care, Vermeer's ordinary servants and common laborers look extraordinary; likewise, Updike's heroes are common people dealing with common problems in uncommonly, extraordinary short stories and novels. Remember this: the modern writer, the modern artist, often attempts to make the ordinary extraordinary. The classical writer and artist had no use for the common man, peasant, serf, groundling, and certainly few women. His job was to write poems and plays about kings, nobles, religious leaders ... you know, the people who really mattered. That's what Brit Lit was all about, wasn't it, up until your study of Wordsworth and Shelly and Coleridge?
Now let's move on to our writing task. But first some questions to get you to perform a basic analysis of the paintings.
Analyze the painting in terms of its title, historical context, subject/theme, characters, color, light/shading, composition/perspective, symbols, and tone.
Which one of the paintings (shown above) do you prefer? Give your reasons, using the points of analysis that preceded this question.
How does the painting make you feel upon first glance?
Imagine the "story" that the painting tells.
How does the painting make you feel upon first glance?
Imagine the "story" that the painting tells.
If neither of these four paintings appeal to you, choose another by Degas or Vermeer (you can easily find them online) in order to complete this assignment below.
Write a good solid paragraph or creative piece responding to any ONE of these options. Write a minimum of 200 words.
1.Why do you like one of the paintings, or prefer it to one of the others? Do not be intimidated if you do not understand too much about artistic composition.
2. Compare and contrast the Degas paintings with the Vermeers. Which artist do you prefer? Why? Be specific.
1.Why do you like one of the paintings, or prefer it to one of the others? Do not be intimidated if you do not understand too much about artistic composition.
2. Compare and contrast the Degas paintings with the Vermeers. Which artist do you prefer? Why? Be specific.
3. You are one of the characters in one of the paintings. Write a 200 word minimum interior monologue where we can "hear" your thoughts as you converse with yourself (in the first person) in the setting provided by the painting.
4. Compose a descriptive "set" piece in which you describe what you see in vivid prose language, using good concrete nouns, motion picture verbs, vivid images, and/or original figures of speech. No need to tell a story. Just write to set a particular mood.
Post before Friday's class. If you need some inspiration, read some of the responses by the Class of 2014 in the October 2013 archives.
Post before Friday's class. If you need some inspiration, read some of the responses by the Class of 2014 in the October 2013 archives.
posted by JTF @ 9:54 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
When first comparing Vermeer’s paintings with Degas, it is first important to look at the techniques used by both painters. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is particularly known for his use of light in his work. He portrayed the people he painted in a very sympathetic manner and paid close attention to their posture. Degas on the other hand was an impressionist, who preferred to call himself a "Realist" or "Independent." He sought to capture moments in the flow of modern life. The Impressionists painted the realities of the world surrounding them and use bright colors, concentrating primarily on the effects of light, and hoping to make their scenes capture the immediacy in that instant. They wanted to express what they saw in that exact moment.
Personally, I prefer the work of Degas. His work provides an element of mystery while at the same time capturing a moment in time which you can make certain assumptions about some characters in the scene. I like how he seems to have a main character in his paintings, such as the main focus on the ballerina in the painting “The Star,” yet there is a mystery as to who is the man in the bushes that seems to be watching her. Also, in the painting, “The Dancing Class” you can tell that the man in the painting is clearly very important, the dancing instructor and is the main focus of the ballerina’s who await their examination.
The Vermeer painting of “The Milkmaid” I liked the best because the colors on the dress and the bright blue and yellow that are brought out catch my eye. Also the way the light from the window is portrayed in the room is very spot on. It is a dull painting but the vibrant colors and the way she pours the milk makes it good. She seems like she has been working for awhile and she is pouring the milk, making sure not to drop any, as she thinks about why she is doing this. Her sleeves are pulled up which makes it look like she has been doing hard work. Also, the way the light hits her forehead and how it shines makes it seem like she is sweating. Maybe, she has been doing this for awhile, yet none of the people she is working for are being nice or generous so she wonders why this is her life and what she can do to change it. At first sight I see a lot of color and then I imagine my own story to go with it. I like this painting the most because of the realism of the painting and the opportunity to make my own story from such a small and normal action being done. Since it is so simplistic I can make anything a part of her story
2. My favorite painting is the La classe de danse. This painting is degas. There are so many different things that you can pick out in this painting and in the other degas paintings. I like how the degas paintings have a brighter and happier feel to them. Even if the painter is portraying a sad scenery, the colors used in the degas paintings have a nice feel. In this particular painting, the artist shows many girls and one teacher in the middle of the painting. It is hard not to notice him and his reaction puts on the whole mood for everything else you see. My second favorite painting is The Girl With The Pearl Earring. This painting is Vermeer painting. In class we saw the real portrait of this girl and it looked almost the exact same. I like how this Vermeer painting uses colors that are most realistic. There aren’t any bright colors. Vermeer paintings have a serious tone to them. The sceneries paint in Vermeer style usually show everyday situations but have a story behind it. In this painting a girl is posing at the camera. The colors used in this are the exact same colors that the actual girl posed in. This tells me that Vermeer paintings are natural and not forced.
Although I danced and have endured the ballerina's pain presented in Degas painting I enjoy Vermeer's art work much more. Vermeer take the most simple things and makes them look special. He does what John Updike does he turns the ordinary into extraordinary. Degas painting do the same ,but in a different way. My favorite painting is the The Girl with the Pearl Earring. This painting is simple, but it pays a lot of attention to detail. Everything in the painting has dull light touching it except the collar of the girl's blouse and the earring that she's wearing. The simple is so simple because of her facial expression. In this picture the picture is so accurate that it looks like he just took a picture of the girl and redrew it. The girl's facial expression looks as if she was in mid sentence. The hair style of the girl is unique and elegant. Her clothes are baggy. The colors that are repeated in his painting are royal blues and goldish-yellowish colors. The girl is not dressed as if she is wealthy, but is simply a picture of an ordinary girl being painted and made extraordinary.
Milkmaid, is that all that I am? No, I am much more than that. Am I? Here I am pouring milk for my boss and his kids while I have no kids, no husband, and live as a maid. Is this what I have always wanted? No, it cannot be. My dream from when I was a young child was to be a dancer and wear beautiful and expensive clothing all the time. My chances to fulfill my dream are now long gone and so here I am, a milkmaid, alone, depressed, and unsatisfied. However, is this blessing? Perhaps I would have never made it as a professional dancer and would have lived a life in extreme poverty. Is following your dreams and possibly failing better than being content with where you already stand? Or is being satisfied with your present status all an individual can really ask for? I want to just drop the apron, walk out, and start a whole new life, but something is holding me back. Fear, fear is holding me back. Fear of failing, fear of living in extreme poverty, fear of stepping outside my comfort zone, fear of leaving a place where satisfies my needs, but not my wants. I need to stop talking to myself and get back to work. Who would hire a milkmaid anyways?
Even though I know nothing on how to analyses art or any kind of painting for that matter; both artists are extraordinary artists. I personally like Degas paintings better. To me they stand out more if they were in a gallery with Vermeer's paintings. Degas uses more bold colors and his paintings are more interesting to me. Vermeer’s paintings unlike Degas are bland and emotionless. Vermeer’s paintings always catch my eye and are different from any other. Although Degas paintings mostly involve dancers they are very different from each other. Vermeer’s paintings do a good job of telling a story but as does Degas. You can really put yourself in the setting and mood of the painting. Vermeer’s paintings are very life-like and realistic but Degas can really catch the eye of anyone. Degas paintings bring a lot of life, light, and brightness to the art and too the person looking at the pieces. What Degas does that Vermeer does not is adding texture to the painting. For example, Degas The Star painting is that the dancer is perfectly clear, which makes her stand out unlike the background which is very unclear. This makes me think of the title of this painting of the ballerina being “the star” of the class and not caring about anything else going on around her.
I like both paintings, but I prefer Degas over Vermeer. Not because of any true intellectual reasons, but just because it is more pleasing to my eye. I love the sight of the ballerina dancing. I find this more intriguing than a girl looking in your direction. As pretty as Vermeer made this girl, there is something much more beautiful about the ballerinas to me. I imagine the girl dancing and I can picture the next move she will make in her dance. When I look at the girl with the pearl earrings, I can’t think of a story behind the painting. I think of just a girl sitting in a chair looking in the direction of the camera. Upon first glance, the ballerina makes me feel almost at peace because it is so pretty. At first glance of the girl with the pearl earrings, I didn’t have any feelings strung upon me. It just felt as if I were looking at a normal painting. I like the light colors and light feel of the ballerina painting. As pretty as they both are, Degas’ painting had an impact on me as where Vermeer’s did not.
I prefer Vermeer over Dega. Although Dega's ballerinas are beautiful, I think it it amazing how Vermeer can turn any ordinary person into a beautiful piece of art. When I see Vermeer's paintings, it makes me realize to appreciate how beautiful the little things in life. Vermeer has painted pictures of a milk maid and an astronomer and has made them very unique and beautiful. How can someone do that? To me, each painting he has painted of someone has a whole story behind them. You look at the milk maid and you can think of a whole story to go with her. Also, something so simple as pouring milk into a bowl looks so beautiful when painted by Vermeer. Some of Vermeer's paintings have been turned into movies or stories. This backs up my point of each picture has their own story to it. It is amazing how one painting of an ordinary person can be turned into a movie or a story. Vermeer's painting are all beautiful and perfectly constructed. Dega's paintings are beautiful and pretty but I do not think they are as unique as Vermeer's paintings.
Personally, I prefer the Degas paintings. His paintings seem brighter and they are more interesting than the Vermeer paintings. Although both of these artists have immense talent when it comes to painting, Degas portrays a more interesting story. Vermeer concentrates on "real" people that are doing realistic jobs and activities. Degas chooses to focus on ballerinas in most of his paintings with vibrant colors and strong women. This takes what seems to be an ordinary thing and turn it into something much deeper than that. You begin to think about how hard these young women have worked to get to where they are and how far they'll get with their dance careers. My favorite painting is "The Star" by Detras because this girl is in her own world while she dances because she is so incredibly dedicated to her craft. She has worked so hard to become the best in her class and now she is the star of the class.
Although both artists are extraordinarily talented, I personally prefer Vermeers' paintings to those of Degas. In his paintings, Vermeer attempts to capture the simplicity of life and ordinary tasks through basic color schemes and blandish, not "flashy" scenes. It is in this simplicity, that his paintings gain their appeal. Vermeer can take a plain, kitchen maid or an expressionless woman on a blank canvas, and turn it into an exceptional work of art. Degas, on the other hand, takes a more glamorous approach. In his depiction of ballerinas, he uses extreme detail in the outfits, particularly the tutus, to accentuate how light and delicate the dancers are and to add a certain grace to his art. Although, both styles of painting are attractive, there is something admirable about Vermeer's goal to make the ordinary, extraordinary. His art resembles real-life and does not try to complicate it with anything other than what is actually there. Vermeer depicts the true beauty in everyday life.
Personally my favorite painting out of the venue that you showed us is the "La classe de danse" by Edgar Dega. I like this painting the best first of all because of the focus point. You can tell that Dega wanted the focus of the painting to be the instructor in the center of the room. Dega dies this well enough because at first glance you look right at the instructor, but if you looked at the ballerinas first your eyes would then Jews you to the instructor because Dega painted them all looking at the instructor. In addition Dega did a great job making the instructor the focus because he used very good color contrast. All the ballerinas are in light bright colors, which then makes the instructor in the bold, dark, grey, and black colors stand out even more. I also like this painting the best because it portrays the scene perfectly and looks very realistic to me as compared with the other paintings. Lastly I like this painting the best because it is so well done you can predict what is happening at the moment. For example I think that the instructor has stopped the ballerinas to lecture them on what they are doing wrong and some of them seem to be too tired to listen. While some of the other ballerinas look as they are not even paying attention to what he has to say because they are looking up to the ceiling.
Immediately after viewing both Degas and Vermeer's paintings I liked Degas better. It was more appealing to my eyes. If it came down to it I would prefer Degas paintings for to hang in my home over Vermeer's paintings. But after looking at both artists' paintings more than once and looking deeper into them I actually prefer Vermeer. His paintings are absolutely beautiful and have deeper meaning behind them. The Milkmaid, a very simple painting, has much meaning to it. From what it looks like he painted women from his time, around the mid 1600s. He is very realistic with his paintings. The Milkmaid represents what an ordinary woman would do as their everyday job. He turns this ordinary woman with an ordinary job into an extraordinary painting. I especially love The Girl With The Pearl Earring because of the colors Vermeer chose. The black background really accentuates the woman's face. The facial expression of the woman, the color of her head piece and the color of her lips is spot on. I find this painting to be absolutely gorgeous. His paintings are very clear and they appear clearer than Degas. Vermeer must have had a "lucid eye".
1. As I reviewed the paintings, there was one that stood out to me: The Milkmaid. There were numerous things I found interesting about this piece. For one, I was amazed at how a normal, everyday servant like a milkmaid was made to look so stunning. The dishes around her, which certainly would not be worth noting if seeing a milkmaid in real life, perfectly complement her as she pours milk into a bowl. The lighting from the window is beautiful as well; it provides depth to the painting and gives her a shadow. Again, a shadow is not necessarily the most breathtaking of visions, but when combined with the other elements of the painting it stands out. What does catch the eye, however, are the colors. The bodice of the maid’s dress is yellow, while the skirt of the dress is blue. While the skirt is definitely appealing visually, it has a deeper meaning. The color blue is a color of elegance; in the 1600s, when this painting was made, it would have been extremely significant as the dye for the color blue was very expensive. By having a milkmaid wear such a color so prominently shows Vermeer’s admiration for the common woman.
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