6 Art History Questions?

Please answer the following questions:

1.Tools of Propaganda According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine dictionary, propaganda is the “spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” Where do you see images or tools of propaganda today? Open your thinking to a wide range of propaganda that may be ubiquitous. Relate your answer to at least one artwork from this chapter.

2.Leaders of Today In works such as the Emperor Justinian and His Attendants and Crowned Head of an Oni , the leader is seen in very regal terms and in elevated status. In the case of the Emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor is elevated to a holy status, as demonstrated by the halo atop his head, the way that his attendants are surrounding him like disciples, and in the gold tesserae that are used in the mosaic. How are our leaders depicted today? Compare and contrast it to at least one work of art in the chapter.

3.Images of War This chapter is full of paintings, photographs, and film stills depicting the effects of war – past wars such as the Heiji Rebellion, the Civil War, and World War II. We currently are at war, and there are battles fought all around the world. How are war and battle scenes depicted today?

4.Government Seats The Houses of Parliament is a grand complex in London designed in the Gothic Revival style. The Maori Meeting House is described as “an elaborate version of a chief’s house” that’s imbued with symbolism. Compare the two structures, which have an obviously different appearance but had a similar purpose. What effect does the mood of the architecture evoke? What of our seat of government, the U.S. Capitol Building? What mood does the Neo-Classical architecture evoke over the Gothic Revival of the Houses of Parliament?

5.Civil Unrest The Burning of the Sanjo Palace is a scene from the Heiji Monogatari emaki, a scroll illustrating the Japanese war epic. It shows the Heiji Rebellion of 1160 where the samurai clan attacked the Imperial court in Kyoto. The scene is active, with areas of intense fighting and torrid flames shooting from the building. Matthew Brady (or staff) photographed Dead Confederate Soldier with Gun during the U.S. Civil War. Contrast the two scenes. Both depict civil unrest, but have different appearances. What kind of mood is evoked in each? Which is the more effective way to depict the effects of war?

6.Leni Riefenstahl made the film Triumph of the Will as a propaganda tool for the Nazi party during the Nuremberg Rally of 1934. Although Riefenstahl denied any wrong doing, it is said that the film served as an important tool of propaganda for Hitler. It was screened throughout Germany in the years prior to WWII. However, it has also been described as more of an art film, with dramatic scenes and sweeping views of the rally, and Riefenstahl won a medal for artistry at the World Exposition in Paris in 1937, the same exposition that had Picasso’s Guernica. When is a film a weapon of propaganda, and when is it just simply a visual epic? Should Riefenstahl be held accountable for her actions in using Nazi propaganda?Pablo Picasso painted Guernica (figure 11-26) after the Basque town of Guernica was bombed by Nazi aircraft that were just using the town for an air strike practice. Over 1,000 people were killed. Picasso, a Spaniard, was devastated by this catastrophic event, so it became the subject matter for a large (over 28 feet long) painting that he was making for the 1937 World’s Exposition in Paris. Picasso eliminated all color from the painting to focus on the horrors in just the values of black and white. While Picasso has denied placing the bull and the horse for symbolism, historians have applied meaning to the animals, stating the bull represents Fascist Spain and the horse the Spanish Republic, both doomed to die. The mother with the dead child is similar to the image of the pieta (See Michelangelo’s Pieta). What are other symbols of Guernica? What mood is evoked? How did Picasso organize the composition? What effect does that have in the composition? Although Picasso had ultimately intended for the painting to belong to Spain, it did not get permanently housed in Spain until the country enjoyed “public liberties and democratic institutions,” which it finally did in 1981.