Activity #5

John Sloan’s The City from Greenwich Village is oil on canvas, 1922. This painting is a portrait of Sloan’s view of New York City from his Greenwich Village apartment thus capturing the theme Looking Outward: The Here and Now. In painting in the theme The Here and Now, the artist simply finds his inspiration from his life as it is here, now, in this place and at this time. (Getlein 64)
In The City from Greenwich Village Sloan employed several visual elements to include that of time, atmospheric perspective, shape, and light. Using these elements, the artist was able to create a scene that depicted exactly what he saw. Most of the figures he designed could not be mistaken for anything other than objects found in a city. Skyscrapers, row houses and subway trains are all indigenous to cities. There are also people and cars in the painting. The people appear to be walking, the cars are driving, and as well the train is moving. All of this activity shows life in motion as the painter painted. The use of color to create light signifies the time of day Sloan was attempting to capture and the atmospheric perspective shows what the weather was at the time the artist was inspired create his painting.







The Old Violin, 1886 oil on canvas by William Michael Harnett, could possibly have two themes. The first theme, The Here and Now, could be supported by the title. The second possible theme, Art and Art, would be supported by the content of the picture. The theme Art and Art is quite simply an artist creating art just for the sake of creating.
Since this painting was created in trompe l’oeil, “fool the eye”, it has an extremely realistic look to it. At first glance, all of the objects in it will be mistaken for the real thing. Once the viewer is past the point of realizing the truth and just appreciates the painting, one can see that every figure in the picture could have been found in the artist’s everyday life, The Here and Now. Harnett employed the principles of unity and variety to the painting. A viewer could easily find a connection to all of the objects in The Old Violin and walk away with the feeling that they looked at a day in the life of a musician (whether or not Harnett was actually that musician).
Art and Art as a theme could be supported by dissecting the figures Harnett put into his painting. The artist applied the principle of variety in his work as well. A violin, a bow, and a music sheet really have no (immediate) connection with a door, a newspaper clipping or an envelope. Combining these items together makes one wonder why these things and it also adds to the question, “What is art?” (Getlein 76)

Source: Getlein, Mark Living With Art 8th Ed. 2006