Paintings and Art

M. N Srinivasan is the father of Indian Sociology whose greatest study was on coorg and his autobiography was remembered village. He introduced the concept of Sanskritization. Everybody irrespective of religion and community started using Sanskrit names. Hence there was a sweep of Sanskrit in communities.
After analyzing a painting by John Constable named “Haywain” painted in the year 1821, Mr Pinto gave guidelines on how to analyze Painting.
He said there are 3 categories of painting.
• Landscape (such as cityscape or urbanscape)
• Potrait (people) Equesterian refers to animal painting
• Still life.
How to analyze Painting
 What is subject matter
 What is location or setting of a particular scene.
 Historical period, or work it depicts.
 Season of time of the year.
 Time of the day, activities by people..
 What is the instant, what is the capture.
Erin Panofsky (Russian)– Branch of Art History that is concerned with meaning of Art or subject matter of Art.
Erwin Panofsky said art has 3 levels of meanings: -
1) Primary- Recognize objects. Eg:- A man walking.
2) Secondary-Conventions Eg:-Greetings, Taking off hat.
3) Tertiary-Intrusion Eg:- About the nation, class, attitude, psychology, period.
Iconology deals with the third level of meaning.

Roger Fry said people have 2 kinds of life
-Actual life
-Imaginative life.
Art is related to Imaginary life and should not be represented of reality. Art was never realistic. Till Renaissance art was completely abstract. In the 12c art became completely realistic.
Rembrandt is considered as the greatest painter as he was excellent in the use of light.
Post Impressionist Painting – After the Impression.

1830’s there was a slight deviation from actual.
Form Looks at:-
Rhythym of line.
Mass
Shape
Light and shade
Colour
Then Mr. Pinto showed us Cezanne’s painting “Basket of Apple’s” which is a good example of still life painting.
With this painting we understood that lines create an impression and we can understand heaviness through the space used.
From 16th century onwards there is a tendency of self portrait.
Art History
Gombrich has witten a book called “History of Art”. He says Art initially began with cave painting then the Egyptians Painting which was taken over by Greeks (500 BCE to 500 C). Greeks started to make art realistic.
The next 500 years there was no art because of collapse of Roman empire.
During Renissance period the important painters are Da Vinci, Titian, Raffael but the greatest is Rembrandt.
Barooque painting is a style referred to lot of people. And Rococo refers to lot of ornaments.
19c :- Menet, student Monet.
Cezanne :- Person who began modern art.
Monet:- Impressions.
Cubism:- Refers to breaking the painting and painting different dimensions.
Gombrich dosen’t have place for community art and also women were never encouraged in painting.
Painting is always abstract. Indian painting upto Raviverma is abstract. After him is realist.
Picasso, Yan Gogh come in the tradition of impressionist.
1745 – Butcher
1866-Origin of the world- pubic area of the women.
Essay: - Laura Muloey- Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
Women are centre of most visual creations. It is there for man’s pleasure.
Renissance paintings- fascinations for male. There was no fascination for male body before.
1937-Picasso, in Spain, painted Guernica. UN office entrance has the picture – Guernica. This painting is about anti war.
Principles of Painting
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* donor’s pic
After Renissance


Watching through a hole in the wall. A private view into the private life of people.
‘My body for beginners’- simple book of visuals written by scholars. Body for philosophy, for medicine.
Politics of Aesthetics
Tracy Amin – ‘My Bed”
‘This is not a pipe’ – Dushamp
‘Fountain’
Art is a construct-the artists themselves started to question.
‘Art is an imitation of reality’ – this concept is broken. This was said by Plato Baudrillard- gave a concept called hyper reality in modern times we have lost the distinction between reality and aesthetics of reality.
Nationalist Politics:-
CN Ramachandran- Most of India is Hindu and Hindu refres to uppercast male dominatnt society. It does not include women.

Visit To The Chapel
On 25th October afternoon MCMS students were taken to St. Aloysius Chapel where the century old edifice houses breathtaking paintings which were created by the famous Italian Painter Br. Antonio Moscheni S.J.
There are 2 types of paintings in the chapel Fresco and Canvas. Frescoes cover about 600 square meters of the walls of the chapel and canvas made of pure linen of strong close weave cover 400 square meters on the ceilings.
Most of the paintings portray life of St. Aloysius the patron saint, life of Jesus. The arches consists paintings of different saints of church and Jesuit saints.
Life size angles are holding garlands of different flowers found in Dakshina Kannada.
Mr. Pinto explained different symbols in the paintings which helps us to recognize the holy personality and also different meanings the paintings try to tell.


as written by Bojamma B.C & Sandhya D'Souza