Museums and Exhibits

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/johnbrack/

http://www.pafa.org/Museum/Exhibitions/Past-Exhibitions/George-Tooker-Exhibition/130/

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting.html

http://artabase.net/exhibition/1949-jemima-wyman-the-declaration-of-resemblance-and-fluid-insurgents

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/beardeninfo.shtm

Parade of the Dynamo Sports Club

Alexander Rodchenko

Gelatin silver print

Le Moulin de la Galette

Pablo Picasso, 1900

Oil on canvas

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Street, Berlin

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1913

Oil on canvas

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Example of Existing Criticism + Image #1

The Dance Hall in Arles
Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Oil on canvas
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

On 23 October 1888, Paul Gauguin met up again with Vincent Van Gogh in Arles. The two men dreamt of founding a "studio of the Midi" together, in the South of France. But their enthusiasm rapidly waned. Van Gogh's overbearing presence came up against Gauguin's fierce independence. However, towards mid-December, they started working together again during a temporary improvement in their relationship.The two great works created during these few days of renewed collaboration are The Arlésiennes (Mistral) (Chicago, The Art Institute), by Gauguin, and The Dance Hall in Arles by Van Gogh. This painting seems to show an evening at the Folies-Arlésiennes, a dance hall on Boulevard des Lices. Gauguin's influence is clear as Van Gogh scrupulously applies the principles of synthesism and cloisonnism developed by his friend at Pont-Aven. The reference to Japanese art is also evident, with the unusual elevation of the horizon, and in the strange, decorative foreground where the curves and counter curves of the hair are dominant.The multitude of characters, the variety of their style of clothes and the way they overlap, skilfully portray a feeling of crowdedness and saturation. The portrait of Madame Roulin on the right, who alone turns to look at the spectator, seems to express a claustrophobic terror. In Gauguin's Arlésiennes, two female characters also express anxiety and anguish.To escape this latent anxiety, the two men went to Montpellier on 16th or 17th December to visit the Musée Fabre. The arguments that followed highlighted their aesthetic disagreements more than ever. As a result of this day out, their separation became inevitable, and Gauguin prepared to leave.

Link:http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-dance-hall-in-arles-10684.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=018c7f904b

Paris Street, Rainy Day

Gustave Caillebotte, 1877

Oil on canvas

Art Institue of Chicago

Menswear, John Brack

National Gallery of Australia

The Bar, John Brack

oil on canvas

National Museum of Victoria

Collins St, 5 pm ; John Brack

oil on canvas

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Lunch, George Tooker

Columbus Museum of Art

Landscape with Figures, George
Tooker

Location unknown

Teller, George Tooker
Location and medium unknown

Critique #1

Conformity is displayed in "The Subway", which is painted by George Tooker. In the painting, there is a frightened looking woman walking down a brightly lit hallway. On either side of her, she is surrounded by people who look very much alike. The exits out of the hallway all seem to be barred off, leaving no escape.

In the painting, there is not constant plane. There are several points of elevation and depression, and there are not many flat areas. However, the hallway behind the woman seems to stretch on indefinitely. The shadows around the people's feet and their bent knees indicate that some of the passengers are moving around. Tooker only uses bright and bold colors in this painting. The flourescently lite hallway creates a cold environment in the painting contrasts with the bold colors of the people's coats. Also, the barred off sections and the bright lights give the subway the appearance of a prison. The emphasis of the painting is clearly on the woman with the frightened expression. She is placed closest to the viewer, strategically positioned between two men who look like clones of each other. Even though the colors of her clothing are the same, her expression is what makes her stand out.

Judging by her expression and her hand on her stomach, the woman appears to be sickened by what she sees. She is most likely sickened by the fact that everyone around her is basically the same. The closed off sections of the subway seem to show that the woman cannot escape her surroundings. I think that the painting is supposed to represent Tooker's fear of conformity and how he feels that we cannot escape it. I feel that Tooker displayed his point about conformity greatly in this painting,. However, it would have been more effective if he made everyone around the woman look exactly the same, instead of having minor differences. George Tooker displays conformity in his painting named "The Subway".

Critique #2

George Tooker displays conformity in a different piece of his called Government Bureau. The painting was done on egg tempera on wood, and it is currently located in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In the painting, there are lines of men and women that seem to go on forever, and none of the faces of the people are shown. Also, there are workers behind glass boxes that are unidentifiable, and the only visible parts of their body are their eyes and hands, sometimes even their nose or one of their ears.
Only dull and dim shades of brown, pink, orange, green, and beige are used in Tooker’s painting. However, the bright red of the scarves on some of the women’s heads contrast with the dull colors of their clothing and of the building. The light at the top of the painting balances out with the dark found near the bottom. The appearance of the booths that the employees are working in seems to have the texture of wood. The long lines, the booths, the support beams on the ceiling, and the lights make it seem like the space beyond the painting goes on indefinitely. The form of the building is not very distinct, so it basically can be any type of building. Since none of the people in line has bent knees, raised feet, or shadows pointing in a certain direction, it’s easy to tell that none of the people in line are moving. Tooker uses realism in his painting, since long lines are very common in public buildings, such as the one displayed in this painting. The foreground of the painting is a man with short, blonde hair and a brown trench coat who is not standing in line. The foreground is placed close to two men who look exactly like him. Nobody in the painting has their own identifiable face, putting emphasis on the fact that they cannot be distinguished from each other.

The focal point of this painting is the man in the brown coat in the center of the painting. He looks just like the other people in the painting, but the one thing that makes him stick out is the fact that he isn't in a line. This could represent that the man is starting to break away from the conformity that is taking place. At first, the message is not noticeable, so maybe the artist could have portrayed it in a more obvious way. Other than that, this is a powerful peice and an excellent example of conformity.