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One of the paintings that best represents the Baroque period would have to be the Flight into Egypt, which was painted in 1597 by Caravaggio. The Baroque period distinguished itself by adding modern images to biblical historical scenes and in this painting Caravaggio demonstrates his great ability to do just that.

This painting does not represent just one biblical scene, but a combination of many of the bibles stories that involve the fleeing of the Holy family into Egypt, to avoid the ire of Herod, who was trying to kill the Christ child.  In the painting Caravaggio chose to paint Mary asleep with the baby Jesus, and Joseph stands holding a manuscript that is given to him by the angel. The manuscript represents the modern man.  The angel stands to the side and is singing a hymn to Mary on the violin, the violin being an instrument of the 1600s and non existent during Christ’s period.

By adding features like the violin and the manuscript Caravaggio has managed to make this biblical story more modern, something that the Baroque man can identify with. This was Caravaggio’s first large scale work, the painting epitomizes the Baroque period because of the nature of the work, the tones, the shift in dark and light shadowing, and the realistic modern subjects. Much of Caravaggios work ranks among the highest as representative of the Baroque period. It is a shame that he was only able to work for about 10 years before being killed.

John Opie was once known to have said,”Art is more godlike than science. Science discovers but art Creates.” This quote tries to answer the question that most artists are asked. What is it that gives them their inspiration? Sometimes we can easily see what the inspiration is. Sometimes the answer is as simple as the people and situations that surround the artist become his inspiration.  But other times we don’t really know how the artist got his idea.

Most artists use people, surroundings, and areas they are familiar with, even for works that are abstract, or ar fantasy art. Sometimes the people in an art work are even a composite of many different people. Some artists are inspired by their dreams and even their life goals, that’s why I say that each piece is a part of the soul of the artist. So to really understand what inspires the artist, you need to know about the artist, his history and what interests him as a person.

It is really difficult to understand what inspires creativity, and that may be what makes it so interesting. Artists use many things to inspire the, a conversation, another piece of art, nature, and many different things.

Photo: Courtesy of Stephenpoff

Perhaps one of the most striking Expressionist painters in all of history, Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter who lived from 1863 to 1944.  He began painting in 1880 after leaving engineering school and in 1881, he enrolled in the Royal School of Art and Design of Kristiania.  While he studied under the influence of Post-Impressionists, Munch felt that the style wasn’t very representative of his reasons for painting.  Instead, he focused more on creating situations within his paintings which were filled with emotional content and expressive imagery.

His most famous painting, The Scream, was painted in 1893.  It is a good representation of his classic style of work, which focuses more on a shallow backdrop which is a minimal space for his frontal figures to grab attention.  Munch wanted to produce convincing images depicting states of mind and psychological conditions.  The characters in his works of art often embody a certain psychological condition, appearing more symbolic than realistic.

In the late 1930s, the Nazi occupation of Germany declared much of Munch’s work to be degenerate and they removed it from German museums.  This offended Munch deeply, as he felt that he had close ties to Germany throughout his youth.  He retired to Oslo and spend the rest of his life there, producing art up to his death in 1944.

Children often do not have the words to be able to define some of the feelings and even trauma that they might be going through.  They do not have the vocabulary to articulate feelings that they might be having.  Yet, this does not stop those children from feeling those emotions.  Not being able to express these emotions can lead to various problems for the children as they grow and the need to express these feelings can manifest themselves in potentially harmful ways.  Teaching these children to express themselves through art could end up being a great way for them to not only explore their creative individuality, but to express these potentially traumatic emotions as well.

Art can be a good indicator of what a child is actually feeling in their life as well.  If they choose to make paintings and drawings of scary events and images, it is often a way to express fears that they have and feel.  It is a way for them to explore this scary event in a safe way.  By the same pattern, drawing images of happy images that they like can help to indicate some of the safe emotions and areas of their life which they might feel comfort with.  This art can be a great indicator of not only what the child is feeling, but of things which the child might want to express but not know how.

Photo: Courtesy of Beija Flor

Another strong contender in the world of Modern Art would be the famous artist Jasper Johns, who challenged the way that Americans looked at many commonplace items in our iconography.  For the fact that he often used many images from popular culture, Jasper Johns has often been classified as a Pop Artist, although this is not exactly the best classification for him.  A more appropriate label might be one of Neo-Dadaism, for the use of popular images, modern materials, and absurdism.  Johns, in his work, often aimed to make us look at the absurd qualities of many things that we as the American public took for granted.

Jasper Johns is potentially most well known for his painting Flag, which simply depicts a flag, painted heavily over found materials, such as crumpled up newspapers.  Found materials would play heavily into Johns’ work, as Johns would make a point of incorporating the world as it is into the pieces of art that he would produce.  Jasper Johns would commonly paint different maps and flags that were richly worked and detailed and often-evoked conflicting emotions in critics.  The art world seemed to be looking for something with the same emotional vulnerability and honesty as Abstract Expressionist works produced, yet having more subject matter and substance than simple painting which evoked an emotion on its own.  The work of Jasper Johns would provide that, both to the delight and the wrath of many.  His attention to detail and painting form was much more involved than the work of Abstract Expressionists, yet his subject matter was presented in an absurd way, making people feel that the process of painting the portrait conveys some of Johns’ thoughts on the matter.

His work has always been simple yet refined.  Johns has always carried the ability to inflict strong emotions in the viewers of his paintings, largely because of his unerring emotional honesty.  His work has clearly earned a place in art history.

Out of the dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a storm driven bird at night we fly out of nowhere: For a moment our wings are seen in the light of the fire, and lo! We are gone again into nowhere - Quoted from King Solomon’s mines.

When exploring what inspires artist, I came across a very short movement that lasted for about 20 years. This movement was the metaphysical art movement of which Giorgio Chirico was considered the father. This painter born in the later part of the 1800’s who died in 1978, was  the founder of the metaphysical art movement, but what is more interesting are the concepts that inspired him. Giogio Chirico was not only a great artist, but also someone with a keen interest in philosophy and he metaphysical.

He first studied art in Italy, but for a time he moved to Germany, and while studying art there he read works by philosophers, Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, Arnold Bocklin, and Max Klinger. When he returned to Italy, his work began to reflect his religious beliefs. Chirico is best known for putting his poetry into his art work. For a time his metaphysical work was only done with cityscapes but later Chirico began to do his Metaphysical art with humans.

Italy is widely considered to be the birthplace of the Renaissance.  This time period, which opened the eyes of the world to all of the wonders that science could provide and the beauty of not only the natural world, but of Ancient Greece and Rome as well.  The Renaissance is the time period between the Middle Ages and Modern Europe, allowing culture to take root and the beginnings of technology to flourish.  The art especially began to see new developments, with heavy emphasis being placed on showing things in a natural manner.  More attention was paid to light and shadow, contrasting shapes, and especially to human anatomy.

Some of the greatest artists of all time were from the Italian Renaissance, including both Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo.  Their paintings and sculptures have stood the test of time and are considered by many critics today to be the best examples of beauty available in art.  Raphael also made lasting artistic contributions, as his School of Athens is considered to be one of the strongest examples of High Renaissance art, along with Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling.  The Italian Renaissance started before the Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe and it produced some of the strongest and most talented artists that the world has ever known.  If one was looking for an example of beautiful art, the Italian Renaissance period would be sure to deliver.

Art is something which enriches our culture and allows us to experience the world and different cultures within it. It is important, therefore, to teach our children about the importance of art for our culture and our world. It is never too early to get children excited about the world of art, for teaching those to have an appreciation for the arts at an early age will help them to stay in tune with their creative side throughout their entire lives. Children often have short attention spans, however, and it is important to present art to them in a way that they can appreciate and not feel overwhelmed by.

One should start by picking artworks which are related to interests that the child has already expressed interest in. By presenting only a few works of art which relate to the interest, the young child can learn that others in the world have an interest in the same topic. It is also important to pay attention to and validate the reactions that the child has to the work of art, as this encourages them to think about the artwork and explore the ideas presented by the work of art more.

The supervisors of the child need to maintain a healthy balance between leading and following however. Knowing when to push a child into exploration is a good thing, but pushing the child too much will make that child feel as if the art becomes a chore. Furthermore, it is a good idea to present something physical for the child to touch that reinforces the work of art being viewed. Touch is one of the strongest sensations of curiosity in a child and being able to touch something to get the same feeling that the artwork is presenting is an important notion to a child.

Photo: Courtesy of New Eyes

Andy Warhol no doubt has a strong influence on the modern art movement as his works have become some of the classic definitions of what modern art stands for.  His 100 Soup Cans or Marilyn Diptych have taken an iconic place in art history, being easily identifiable as a Warhol piece by even the most casual of observers.  Some pieces, however, have placed more influence on modern art than any of the others and out of all of these, Marilyn Diptych perhaps more than any other.  In 2004, this Warhol piece was named the third most influential work of modern art in a survey conducted between 500 artists and art critics.

The piece was constructed in the four months following Marilyn Monroe’s untimely suicide in August of 1962.  Upon hearing the news of the star’s passing, Andy Warhol began to construct a work of art in dedication to her, which some have come to believe represents the mortality of her glamorous life.  50 images of the actress, all the same, were used in the construction of this piece in a grid of 5 rows and 10 columns.  The single image used was taken from a publicity photograph of Marilyn Monroe from the 1953 film Niagara.  The 25 images on the left hand side of the artwork are all in startling color, dramatized for a loud effect.  The 25 images on the left hand side of the piece are all in black and white, providing a stark contrast to the bright colors of the other side.

It has been postulated that Andy Warhol wanted to touch both upon the frailness of human life and the presence that celebrity can have in the everyday life.  Marilyn Monroe, by and large, was a household name and the repetitiveness of her image in Marilyn Diptych reinforces the fact that everyone knows who she was.  The color scheme reminds us all that she, like all of us, will eventually fade away and that as bright as we may be at one time in our lives, we will eventually fade to black as well.

What creates passion in People? Inspiration may create passion or vice versa passion may create inspiration.  At any rate we know that people are inspired to create art and art inspires people to look, listen, and enjoy more art.

For many the enjoyment of art, music, literature, even film is not enough in itself, but they also look for other people that enjoy the same type of art and creation. Although, true that we are each individuals, we are also a whole, and as such we look for people with like interests whether we are artists ourselves, or just enjoy art.

The web has changed the way we enjoy and create art, giving us a medium in which we can either share our creativity with other creative beings or in which we can enjoy the same styles and types of art and talk about it with other people who also like the same things we do, and this creates both a maketing tool for those of us that are creative, a support system for artists, and a way of recommending art to friends and family when we enjoy certain types of art.

Photo: Courtesy of Hieronymus