Topic > Comparative analysis in art: Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore

Index of the artistic comparison essayIntroductionPicasso's "Bullfight Scene"Moore's "Woman Seated in the Underground"Differences in visual languagesInterpretation of works of artAnalysis of the "Weeping Woman" by Pablo PicassoConclusionArtistic comparison essay ExampleAnalysis of Pablo Picasso's artwork "The Crying Woman"Works CitedArtistic Comparison Essay OutlineIntroductionIntroduction to the focus of the essay on the comparison between "Woman Seated in the Dungeon" by Henry Moore and "Bullfighting Scene" by Pablo Picasso "Bullfight Scene" by Picasso Description of Picasso's artwork, including its medium, size, and subject Analysis of Picasso's emphasis on movement and form over finer details Discussion of the use of ink and tonal variation to represent bullfightingMoore's "Woman Sitting Underground"Description of Moore's artwork, including its medium, size and historical context during the BlitzExamination of the depiction of a woman on the London Underground during the warAnalysis of the use of media, line and body language to convey atmosphere and mood Differences in visual languages ​​Exploration of the distinct visual languages ​​employed by Picasso and Moore Discussion of how their backgrounds and artistic approaches influenced their respective works of art Interpretation of works Argument against the need for realistic details for a successful representation Examination of how the audience's interpretation of Moore's artwork differed from his intentions Analysis of the need for viewers to decode and understand the artist's "truth" in both works Analysis of Pablo "The Woman crying" by PicassoDescription of Picasso's work "The Crying Woman"Analysis of its vibrant colors and distorted featuresInterpretation of the emotional and symbolic elements of the workConclusionSummary of comparisons and interpretations of both series of worksReflection on the artists' abilities to convey emotions and meanings through your chosen mediumsFinal thoughts on the subjective nature of artistic interpretationArtistic Comparison Essay ExampleThis comparison will examine Henry Moore's Woman Seated in the Dungeon and Pablo Picasso's Bullfight Scene.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Picasso's drawing was completed in ink on paper (480 x 623 mm in size) and depicts the picador, on his horse, spearing a bull. The focus is not on fine details, but rather on the movement and shape of the figures; the image is a still image that captures the energy of the moment. A variety of tones are achieved by diluting the ink, which breaks down the figures into more descriptive shapes, instead of a solid silhouette. This drawing is the tenth of the fourteen produced that day (25/02/1960), which depict the different phases of the bullfight. Moore's drawing depicts a woman sitting on the London Underground during the events of the Blitz. A much wider variety of media was used, including gouache, ink, watercolor and pastel on paper (size 483 x 381 mm); however, it is also a completed work, part of a series of drawings produced commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee. The figure itself has no features or facial expressions; the atmosphere is mainly represented through media and line. Body language is another detail that exemplifies the tone of the drawing. In the background we see a mass of people, a white ghost. The dark atmosphere is reinforced by Moore's use of pastel grays and opaque watercolors. The designs differ in many points. They express visual languagesvery different through the choice of media, which is also influenced by the type of drawing and above all by the environment in which they were produced and for what purpose. However, both artists eschew naturalistic details in favor of media and composition to describe their respective scenes. Artists have generated drawings full of emotion and meaning without having to directly reproduce reality. I am arguing for the need for realistic detail, obtained from a medium such as photography, to successfully portray a scene. Furthermore, I will analyze the interpretation of the works from outside the artist's perspective and how the drawings translated their subjects. Most of Moore's shelter drawings depict groups of refugees, however here a lone woman sits to the side, "anxiously clasping her hands" (Tate, 2004) sitting upright, inferring vigilance. Texture is an important part of Moore's drawing: "Network of nervous, scratchy lines describing the figure" (Tate, 2004), "In texture and color the paper resembles a slab of weathered concrete" (Ashford, 2007). the texture and opaque color perfectly encapsulate the atmosphere of Moore's underworld: Moore used pen, ink and predominantly the wax-resistant technique with watercolor in both his sketchbook and finished drawings (Moore, 1988, pp.12 ). The tension is very noticeable when looking at the drawing; you feel sympathy for the heavily bandaged refugees. Moore stressed that he never made drawings on the subway – “It would have been like sketching in the hold of a slave ship” (Moore, 1988, pp.10) – not wanting to upset people in the circumstances. He would take notes and reproduce them later at home: "a note like two people sleeping under the same blanket would be enough of a reminder to allow me to make a sketch the next day." (Moore, 1988, pp.10) 'A Shelter Sketchbook' (Moore, 1988) contains one particular sketch identical in similarity to 'Woman Seated in the Underground'. In this sketch the figure contains more recognizable facial features, a decision must have been made to remove them in the final drawing. “Moore's interpretation was…somewhat removed from the experience of the average refugee…His featureless sleepers are all doomed and haunted…For him, it is the collective pattern and not individual experience that It's important." (Newton, 1945, pp.9) Newton states that Moore's drawings on Shelter form a collective, not focused on individuals who can be recognized, but on the collective suffering of a nation. Moore found inspiration in the Underground imitating his sculptural eye: “I had never seen so many rows of reclining figures (referring to his series of sculptures of reclining nudes) and even the holes from which the trains came out seemed to me like them, holes in my sculpture. (Moore, 1988, pp.9) Frances Carey goes further to say, “The whole meaning and substance of her past work is implicit in her new work.” (Carey, 1988) exemplifying the influence of his sculptural work. Moore's subterranean figures have been compared to "casts of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii". (Phaidon, 2013) Almost sculptures themselves and equally a faceless community, grappling with a harrowing experience. he became more productive in his later years, producing a greater volume and variety of work (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127) – The use of simple ink on paper in figure 2 supports this, the medium allows for a pace of work quicker. Picasso and Moore used their subjects, depicted in Figures 1 and 2, to continue producing work in times when artists could be seen as transitioning into new phases of their lives. Although Moore's works were commissioned,they still represent an extension of his sculptural work. Picasso, however, did not develop his drawings as Moore did; instead we see quantity production. It is evident that Picasso used a brush with ink: this movement of the brush imitates the direction of movement, particularly in the bull's tail. The ink was diluted to achieve a variety of tones, breaking up the figures and making the shapes more distinguishable. The scale of the bull and the matador receding in the background create a sense of depth in a simplistic design. The Tate summary of Picasso's drawing reads: "Bullfight scene" illustrates a dramatic moment in which the picador spears the charging bull, while the matador stands in the background, ready to intervene as the final phase of the killing begins." (Bottinelli, 2004) – Which gives the appropriate context to start decoding the image. However looking at the entire series, one narrative is evident; However “many of them were drawn before going to the bullfight and made up of memories of previous bullfights – drawn, as Picasso said, to gain admission to the bullring” (Sabart?s, 1961. pp.54) Sabart? This tells us that the drawings do not strictly follow a specific narrative, but still depict the sequential phases of the bullfight. The visual languages ​​of Picasso and Moore differ greatly. Both artists are recreating a scene, but the artist's processes are very different – ​​this could be attributed to Moore's sculptural background and his new exploration of drawing as an end in itself; against Picasso who “felt that to be active is to be alive” (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127). Furthermore, Moore was producing finished works for his War Artist Commission, as opposed to Picasso who practiced drawing to fill his life, recording his days. The artist Henri Matisse believed that “there is an intrinsic truth that must be freed from the external appearance of the object to be represented. This is the only truth that matters." (Flam, 1973. pp.117) Statement that applies to both Figures 1 and 2. Sabart?s presents an excellent example: “No one has seen a bull exactly as Picasso sees it… His bulls are real bulls; bulls… wild creatures, vibrant with life and incalculable strength… the true image of a bull, translated from the artist's memories” (Sabart?s, 1961. pp.52). Looking solely at his ink drawing, it is difficult to imagine the true image that Picasso was portraying. The collection of which Figure 2 is a part demonstrates a narrative that embodies something much grander. Sabart?s continues: “I don't think it's possible to compare our vision to Picasso's at all. Indeed, as he said, no one can imagine what he sees as he actually saw it. (Sabart?s, 1961. pp.58) Moore's drawings were misinterpreted by the British public: art critic Keith Vaughan believed that “The decision to give Henry Moore, a sculptor with an extremely personal sense of form, the tube roofing material… was certainly one of great foresight and courage,” (Lehmann, 1943) – however, Londoners felt “insulted” as they were excluded from the underworld that Moore was describing (Lehmann, 1943). David Ashford described the drawings as “alienating images of immemorial long-suffering and passive resistance” (which) subsequently became “the key image… of a supposed 'people's war'” (Ashford, 2007). Vaughan believes that knowledge of Moore's previous sculpture work was crucial to fully understanding the drawings of Underground (Lehmann, 1943), which could explain the public's adverse reaction. Vaughan continues: “I've heard people call these drawings morbid and unreal. I don't think either criticism is justified. The qualities they highlight are no less realbecause they are deeper than the obvious and the apparent." (Lehmann, 1943) also exemplify the need to be familiar with Moore's previous work to understand his intentions. The forms he developed for the presentation of the human figure arose from… his materials of wood and stone. (Lehmann, 1943) Moore's style comes from translating his sculptural background into the medium of drawing. Another critic wrote: "Moore has surrendered nothing... of his individual style" (Read, 1941) exemplifying the fact that Moore treated drawing as "an end in itself" (Hall, 1966, pp.103) - During the Second World War the studio rented by Moore was damaged by bombing. Moore was unable to complete his sculptural work, so he turned to the medium of drawing (Moore, 1988). Matisse's writing explores the idea of ​​a deeper understanding of the surface: “it is therefore evident that the anatomical and organic inaccuracy in these drawings have not damaged the expression of the intimate character and the intrinsic truth of the personality, but on the contrary have helped to clarify it." (Flam, 1973. pp.117-119) Matisse argues that each drawing derives from the artist's understanding of the subject, which becomes identifiable to the artist: “It is not modified by the different conditions in which the drawing is made; on the contrary, the expression of its truth through the elasticity of its line and its freedom lends itself to the needs of the composition;” (Flam, 1973. pp.117-119) The 'truth' of the subject is not altered by the medium. To fully develop an understanding of drawing, greater knowledge is necessary: ​​just as knowledge of the bullfighting tradition complements the simplest ink drawing; and that understanding Moore's earlier sculptural work significantly influenced his Underground works. Jean Sutherland Boggs reasons: “As an old man, Picasso could not help but be aware of death… Bullfighting is surely a reminder of death,” (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp.127) Ronald Penrose has a more developed the theme of the bullfight – “Man… the horse and the bull were all victims of an inextricable cycle of life and death… The bull is eternal, it is continually replaced and thus becomes the symbol of the perennial force of life”. (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp110-111) Boggs reports that Picasso's fascination with bullfighting towards the end of his life foreshadows what is to come. While Penrose believes that “Picasso's work is above all an investigation by visual means into the nature of that elusive reality” (Penrose and Golding, 1981, pp102), suggesting that the bullfighting theme is not driven by the concept of death – New characters are constantly reintroduced (bullfighters) but the bull is “eternal”, a metaphor for his own life; Picasso moves on to produce new styles of work, but He is the constant. The theme of death is much more evident in Moore's drawing, in the ideas of Erich Neumann in particular: "Spectral figures that are increasingly "abstract"... the almost lying sleepers are like the dead, and like the protection offered by the swaddle it is often barely distinguishable from the final certainty of death. Some of the shelter drawings are not just images of underground caves, but of the underground world” (Neumann, 1959, pp.80). Many critics refer to the white wax that creates the ghostly, shapeless figures: “ghostly, skeletal, devoid of flesh and blood.” (Phaidon, 2013) Additionally, many have noted: “The apparent absence of period detail has led some. .. to interpret such figures as timeless symbols of fear, vulnerability and resistance". (Tate, 2004) The idea of ​​timelessness further adds to the concept of ghostly and disturbing figures. Furthermore, numerous comparisons have been made with nightmare slaves” (Russell, 1968, pp.81) as if the figures wereprisoners. Moore's memory of the subway is exactly the opposite: “there were little intimate touches. Children fast asleep... People who were obviously strangers... forming small intimate groups." (Moore, 1988, pp.9) What Moore described was that of a community coming together: "They were cut off from what it was happening up there, but they were aware of it.” (Moore, 1988, pp.10) The removal of individuality only reinforces the idea of ​​the collective, however the public had misinterpreted the concept event of the bull's death as part of the circle of life, but is constantly replaced; a romantic idealization. Moore's drawings have been compared to ghostly remains, timeless reminders of the blitz and the obvious death associated with it of the Bullfight" by Picasso and Moore's "Woman Sitting in the Dungeon" depict two very different scenes, but both only succeed in portraying their subject to a certain extent. Moore's drawing is very visual, projecting atmosphere particularly through the plot. Moore's sculptural background strongly influences the results, however, they left audiences feeling misrepresented, lost in the translation of his concepts. Picasso's drawing manages to capture the scene in a simplistic view, but the drawing is best seen as part of his narrative where the bullfighting tradition is most apparent. The drawings are a projection of the artist's "truth", however, they need to be decoded: there is a conflicting debate on the themes of Picasso's drawing, divided between the celebration of tradition or the foreshadowing of what will happen in his final years . Moore was fascinated by the idea of ​​the collective, removing individuality from his images; it shocked the British public who felt excluded from the underground world. Furthermore, many critics perceived Moore's subway figures as timeless symbols of sorrow, comparing the scenes to those of purgatory – a rather contrasting view of what Moore saw and intended to show of the subway. The drawings show how the "truth" can be reimagined. to represent the "artist's truth", but the translation may not always be so obvious and is subjective to the viewers' understanding. Analysis of Pablo Picasso's artwork "The Weeping Woman" The artwork I chose, made by Pablo Picasso, is sophisticated and vibrant artwork titled "The Weeping Woman". It was originally painted in 1937 in France, which was the period of surrealism, although it is a cubism artwork. This artwork has quite vibrant colors that engulf the face and background. In this work you will notice that the subject of the painting (the woman) does not seem normal. His eyes have what look like crosses in the center which could mean he is sad or getting sad. On his head he has a red hat with what looks like a flower pierced by an arrow. Moving down a little, you should notice that the subject of the artwork has something towards its mouth, this is what my eye was first drawn to while looking at this artwork. This symbolizes possible fear or sadness due to him holding a handkerchief towards his mouth while also looking at the general expression on his face. She seems to be wearing a dark coat too, she might be cold. The background is yellow, probably yellow wallpaper with brown baseboards. Her eyebrows are also pointing downwards, which once again leads us to think that she might be scared. The dimensions of the works are 60 x 49 cm, 23 ⅝ x 19 ¼ inches. Being a Cubist painting, The Crying Woman is typical in that it is composed of geometric shapes that are abstractions. Picasso deconstructs his subject, Dora.