Edward Hopper: "Cape Cod Morning"

I listened to all of the podcasts and I decieded to respond to the one about "Cape Cod Morning", by Edward Hopper. Most of his past paintings were considered to show isolationism and lonliness, and many people seem to think that "Cape Cod Morning" also depicts lonliness. May Geolot believes that this painting does not symbolize any dark emotions, but that it symbolizes eagerness and determination. She seems to think that just because his past paintings were very dark and dreary that this painting would be no different. The way that he paints shows the things that he trys to portray and the way that he portrays these things can vary in mediums. Edward Hopper painted his pictures to show whatever emotions that he wanted to show people. She speaks of how the woman is painted and of the emotions that reflect off of her. She causes the inference that the emotion of the painting is shown from the emotion of the woman and what it seems that she wants as opposed to the emotion of the painting being derived from other scenery. She speaks of how instead of being sad and lonly that this woman is eager to get out and experience the world and live the day. She makes the inference that the woman is trying to see the beautiful landscape from her window.




I believe that this painting shows the same thing that May Geolot thinks that it shows. As a technique, I interpret individual objects rather than trying to assume what they are about by looking at objects that are related to them. As stated above, many people assume that this painting is about lonliness just because of the other paintings that Edward Hopper has created. I don't think this that this painting represents lonliness because, as May Geolot thinks also, the woman in the picture looks more eager instead of sad. I believe that the reasoning behind the fact that many people see this painting as depressing relates to his past paintings. I think that if people had not seen his previous paintings then maybe their ideas about "Cape Cod Morning" would be different. I had not seen his previous paintings until I researched him after listening to the podcast by May Geollot. Looking at his other paintings, it is apparant to me that he does have a habit of creating paintings that represent lonliness and depression. Because many of his past paintings were of this nature, viewers tend to think that his newer paintings will reference back to his older paintings.

Here, you see two of Edward Hopper's previous paintings.

Here, you see the difference between his previous paintings and "Cape Cod Morning."

"Ann Truitt: Poetry in Stillness"

Poetry in Stillness

This page talks about a woman's experience in a muesuem and how that experience made her think. She was looking for a painting and found a sculpture in the form of an eight foot wooden rectangle. This sculpture is pure neon green and the woman that saw it said it was totemic. She speaks of how a woman who used to be a babysitter wore a pink sweater all the time because all of the children that she watched loved to touch it. The author then related this fact to how color is a very strong part of memory. She says that she thinks this sculpture was created for the artists daughter, because green seems to represent new beginings and ventures, while the artists daughter is growing up.

I think that color DOES link to memory and I also believe that color can represent designated emotions. In a way, I think that thoughts and even actions can be accompinied by colors and the effect they have on the brain. Red seems to represent anger, and hate while blue seems to represent calm and sadness. There are always certain emotions and feelings linked to colors, and even patterns. I think that art is created with a certain color sceme in mind to help the actual depiction and perception of the individual art piece. I link many things, be it memories, emotions or thoughts, to colors and patterns. I think that the author was right when she spoke of how colors link to feelings. I think the point of the article was to show that solid objects with nothing but shape, texture and color can flood millions of emotions and feelings through a persons' brain. The sculpture that the author saw put emotions in her head so strongly that she decided to write about her experience.

Perception of Art

I read two short essays and an article pertaining to art and how people perceive it. With all the information from the three reading sessions, I widened my view about art. Art can be many different things to many different people. Art should represent whatever the artist wills it to, and nothing legal should be put in place to stop that. Art is beautiful because it represents something much larger than itself and it can be made with, or into, anything. There are different ways to identify art, and one of the first things you should do is analyze the actual piece. Explore the possibilities of what it could mean and what it may represent. Never down a piece of art, because it means something to someone.

I read an article about a student who got into trouble for referencing his religion in a piece of art that he created in his art class. If a teacher expects you to express yourself by art, they shouldn't put limitations on what you can include and what you can't. Schools and governments should not make it against rules to reference beliefs in art, or in any form of expression, for that matter. The school that this student went to was covered in religious symbolism and artifacts, so why should it be illegal for him to express what HE believes. I think that it is wring for people to try and put a limit on art, no matter what the cause. A picture of something of a certain faith will cause no harm to someone that believes another faith. Even though the school board has this rule in place to prevent students of diverse religions to become offended by a predominate religion, will students actually be offended by their classmates and friends expressing what they believe?

No one should try to cap art, and there are so many different ways that it can be done. Art is expression; expression is freedom. Every piece of art is special, even if the lines aren't symmetrical or the colors don't match. Art seems to be something that is open for anything to express itself through. Art can portray anything and everything, and every artist knows that they can show anything through this let-out. I believe that art is something that can be matched by nothing, because everything can be found in art and vise-versa. A first grader drawing their family and the puppy that they love so much is no different that a famous artist expressing his love for the sea. Art is art and freedom is not free.