Lion Paintings

Thepainting on the left is an oil and canvas by William John Huggins(1781-1845) named "A lion". The painting on the right is also an oil on canvas by Jason Morgan named "African Lion". I appreciate both these paintings because I have much respect for the lion (it is my middle name). I personally like the lion on the right slightly more because I think the one on the right shows a lion more in its natural unagitated stage. But then I thought about the age diference between these two paintings and you have to realize the world was a different place 200 years ago, so the view of lions from a European standpoint would have been drastically different. People in Europe had no idea, no picture of what an African lion looked like so Huggins wanted to let the world know through his painting. The only thing is that he was trying really hard to depict the lion as an extremely violent animal and giving a monster-like effect to it. The one on the right is modern and shows the lion in its calm everday state because a lion is not always roaring and belligerent, infact they are very lazy animals who sleep 20 hours a day. Of course if you mess with a lion he will tear any human to shreds, but I personally believe it would have been unlikely for a European painter back then to paint the lion in a similar way as the one on the right. I think the painting on the right has the physique of the lion down to every detail, and the one on the left does not, but that is not Huggins fault beacuse viewers of this piece and European painters were not knowledge about the anatomy of the lion, but rather intrigued and fascinated by the fierce and courageous nature of the lion.

Mysterious Landscape Painting

I could not find who painted this piece but it did state it was an oil on canvas painting. This is a painting that I could not take my eyes off. Something about it is simply mesmerizing. This seems like a far-away covered with clouds from the top of the mountain and even more clouds ontop of that. I feel like if I were ever to find this place and sit on one of the mountains and get a view like the one in this piece, I would have a special experience that no in the world would ever have.

Josephine Wall

This is a painting by Josephine Wall. When I first looked at this painting I was absolutely amazed. I though How could you not appreciate this painting. I looked at this painting for a while just taking it all in. This painting gives you such an eretheal and otherworldly feeling that makes you question the line between fantasy and reality. A painting that truly epitomizes mystique, with the autumn leaves swirling around her lower body gradually becoming more apparent and finally turning into butterflies. This is the type of painting that you can see time and time again and still be fascinated by it, and also notice new things in this painting that you had not seen before. I like how Wall gave this woman figure a light-blue turquoiseish color which invites a tranquil and comforting aspect to this piece. This is something that this author definitely took time to draw out and create, so I think it deserves a lot of time to look at by each viewer and notice all the intricate details the artist puts in.

French and Indian War

I could not find any info on this painting whatsoever but I believe it to be oil on canvas. This painting depicts the French and Indian War against the British. The central focus is the Native Americans who have been supplied weapons by the French and you see this battle from their point of view as they try to fend off the Brits. As you can tell, it seems as though the Britains are too overpowering in sheer numbers, but it also seems like they are surrounded. THis painting gives you the feel that the English are indeed invading unfamiliar territory and are just walking into the NAtives attack. You can see the courage in the Natives to not back down and they have done alot to not give up thier land, including the fact that they have properly learned how to use a gun and reload it. This seems like the start of the battle so it is unclear who will win or how many casualities there will be. Looking at the strength of the Brits verses the Natives it looks like a depressing and tragic outcome for the Natives. This picture captures the reality of war and the emotions; there is no time to think just react and shoot until the end.

Phillipine Painting

This is a painting done by Cesar F. Balagot. I could not find anymore info on this but I believe it is an oil on canvas. This is another painting that I truly liked. It depicts the trouble-free nature of these people and I believe it also shows a comforting unity among these people. This painting looks very simple and it does not look tough to replicate this piece. Therefore these people look simple, their lives are not crowded with ttechnology and useless additions to their life, they are jsut surrounded by beautiful flowers that the women carry on their heads and everyone has their own basket of nice looking flowers that that they tend to. This makes me envious contemplating what my life would be like if I could worry about floweres all day long. I like the colors of the floweres to, in my mind theses are the colors that I consider "happy" colors. I feel I know why none of the people in this painting are facing the viewer, they are too consumed with their lives and their environment, that they do not care for us or our more "complex" world. I think the artist purposefully made everyone in this piece tuen thier backs to us to illustrate the point how content they are with their lives.

The Song of Love

This painting is named The Song of Love by Giorgio de Chirico in 1914, It is an oil on canvas. This painting was an early style of the Surrealist Movement. THe central focus of this painting you can tell is this sculpture of a head and what looks like orange gloves pinned on a wall. There is also a green ball on the floor beside it. This is surrelism because to me it looks like dimensions are distorted. It seems like there is a building next to this wall so it would make sense that the wall would also be huge in size. But I dont think that anyone woud wear gloves this big. The orange and green remind me of another Surrealist painting I posted on my blog THe Elephant Celebes, THese colors may have been important or representative of something during this time period. In the background it also looks like a train or something in the background with smoke coming from it. This could symbolize how the times were changing as I'm sure trains were probably fairly new at this time.

Cottage Charm

This painting is called Cottage Charm by Jim Mitchell. I believe it is oil on canvas but the website could not verify this. When I look at this painting , I think of pure happiness, like nothing could go wrong if I could live in this place my whole life. THe way that Mitchell uses the colors gives me sense of forever longing for this place. These colors make it seem like this place is fantasy, not even real, a place you yearn for but can never find it, atleast in America. I love the way this place is covered by trees in the back and there are a wide array of flower and bushes surrounded it. All this greenery around it makes this place seem like it is in seclusion, away from human contact and unnatural desires. This painting looks so perfect from the looking of the cottage to the way the sun is shining on it, and also the lone bird that sits atop the ledge. Even though it is evident that people live and know about this place, I admire the fact that Mitchell did not add anyone in this picture, not even the boat sitting in the water. It is easy to understand why Mitchell named this Cottage Charm instead of cottage farm. I could look at this painting all day and still feel good about life. I wish I could buy this painting but don't know how.