Thomas Hart Benton Essay Example for Free

Thomas Hart Benton Essay Described by former U.S. President Harry Truman as the best painter in America, Thomas Hart Benton led a new art movement in the country in an era when modernism and abstract art were in vogue. Benton, the scion of a famous political family in Neosho, Missouri, is one of the widely recognized popular artists in the United States1.   Despite his diminutive five-feet three stature and fiery temper, Benton was a man of enormous talents for he was not just a painter; he was also a writer and a musician, and a man well versed in the issues of his time. Being the son of a lawyer and congressman, and the grandnephew of a senator, Bentons father wanted him to get involved in law or politics.   But young Benton showed early on remarkable skills in art, which his mother encouraged and supported.   Despite oppositions from his father, Benton pursued his artistic inclinations.   At a young age, he worked as a cartoonist for Joplin (Missouri) American in 1906. After that, he was sent to a military school by his father, but was later allowed to leave and study at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1907.   After two years, he left for further studies in the Academie Julien in Paris, where he met fellow North American artists like Stanton Macdonald-Wright, whose leaning towards synchromism influenced Bentons art.   While in Paris, works of Michelangelo and El Greco created lasting impact on Benton2. In Selden Rodmans Fighter and Artist article, he described Bentons life in Paris as the unhappiest in the artists career.   He didnt have an audience for his work and somehow lost the knack for making art a performance.   His mother came to Paris and brought Benton home with her, a move that proved fortunate for back in America, the artist found his art again. _____________ Mark M. Johnson, On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America (1999): 17. Ibid, 19. Upon his return, Benton went to New York and continued painting.   He experimented and studied the arts of the old masters as well as various modern styles.   Before finding his niche in the world of art, Benton was generally considered a modernist who dabbled in modern approaches like Cezannism the use of repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes, and Constructivism the use of industrial, angular approach with geometric abstraction3.   Among the modernist movements, he was particularly drawn towards synchromism, a painting technique that treats colors the same way a composer arranges notes in music with advancing and reducing hues.  Ã‚   This was in part through the influence of the modernist American painter, Macdonald-Wright, who Benton met in Paris and became his life-long friend. In 1919, he was employed as a draftsman for two years in the United States Navy, a move that significantly changed his style. During his navy stint, Bentons drawings and sketches were focused on realistic depictions of the work and life in shipyards4.   In his realist drawings, Benton found his medium, which he pursued with vigor throughout his life.   The Navy Art Collection has twenty-five of Thomas Hart Bentons works. After the Navy, Benton held a teaching post at New Yorks Chelsea Neighborhood Association, where he met his wife Rita Piacenza, an Italian immigrant who believed in his genius and remained with him until he died5. Bentons career shifted focus in 1924 when he went home to Missouri to reconcile with his dying father.   As a result of the talks he had with his father and other family friends, Bentons heart was filled with a desire to recapture the world he knew as a child. _____________ Greta Berman, Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal 1990: 199 Barbara Herberholz, Thomas Hart Bentons home and studio, Arts Activities 2000: 40 Ibid, 40. 3 Regionalism Once he found the right medium for his art, Thomas Hart Benton embarked on a naturalistic and representational style of painting a school of art known today as Regionalism, a movement where the artist depicts what is around him, the things he knew and saw.   From then on, Benton branded himself an anti-modernist. As a Regionalist, Bentons subjects were often rural scenes from the Midwest whose themes were of self-preservation and hard work.   This change occurred at some point in Bentons life, but to pinpoint exactly when it happened is difficult. Benton enlarged the scope of his Regionalist art to include the working class.   The small farmer held the artists sympathy and was often portrayed in small-town scenes that speak of beauty coupled with melancholy and desperation.   According to Mark Johnson, the artist said in his autobiography that he looked on the United States as a group comprised of geographic and cultural regions with distinctive characteristics (20). Benton was unique in trying to record history through his works.   Like a historian, he wanted to capture and preserve the distinct traits of regional life in the country before technological advancements and modernization will lay claim on the America of his youth.   Benton was a visual witness at a time when the United States was transitioning from being an agricultural country to one that embraces industrialization. Bentons paintings were often done realistically in a down-to-earth style so that the ordinary people could understand their meanings; contrary to abstract art that requires in-depth analysis and interpretation.  Ã‚   He preferred for his works to be hanged in saloons for the common people to see and admire them (Johnson 20). 4 Rise to Fame Although Thomas Hart Benton became well known for his drawings, sketches, and easel paintings, it was in a different mode of expression that he attained fame and notoriety.   It was in his murals of tremendous proportions that Benton was catapulted to greatness, gaining him admirers and critics. How Benton became engrossed with murals of monumental scale can be attributed to a number of factors.   Bentons early life experiences included viewing of huge murals at federal government buildings in Washington D.C., where he spent a large part of his childhood. At some basic level, this seems to be the earliest foundation for his art6.   It could also be said that as a son of a political family, Benton had it in him to want to attract attention, a theory that is relatively weak.   When he studied art in Paris, he was once more struck by the magnificence of the works created by Michelangelo and El Greco through their tremendous size.   Through sheer size of an artwork, Benton discovered that viewers could be dazzled. Marianne Berardi discussed in an essay circumstantial and personal reasons that could have led Benson to pursue mural painting as a life long career.   One of these reasons was Bentons having read the illustrated copy of the History of the United States by J.A. Spencer, where he got the inspiration and the idea to express history through a modern language of form. But according to Berardi, the most likely reason for the artists decision to take up mural painting was the death of his father.   Benton alluded to this event in an autobiography he wrote in the years to come.   Colonel M.E. Benton became estranged from his eldest son over the latters choice of a career.   For more than a decade, they had very little communication.   Benton made peace with his ill and dying father in 1924.   Berardi cited Bentons 1938 memoir to support this. _____________ Mark M. Johnson, On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America (1999): 19. 5 In his memoir, Benton described how the reminiscing talks he heard from his fathers friends gave him the desire to know more of the America he knew as a child and had forgotten as a result of his wanderings in the quest to gain more knowledge and experiences in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To make up for lost time, Benton traveled around the country to make sketches of things he saw and knew.   He visited places where he traveled with his father as a child.   Bentons sketches during these travels became his raw material for his murals. Bentons name became part of mainstream art by 1932 when he was asked to do a five-part series, the Arts of Life in America7 a depiction through murals of life in Indiana that were contributed to the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois.   Benton wasnt paid for this work.   He only got reimbursement for his supplies.   Despite not getting paid for his labor, Benton benefited in different ways.   The murals caught the interests of people all around America due to Bentons representation of his subject using unflattering light.   Also, among his subjects was the controversial Ku Klux Klan in its finery. The murals occupied four huge wall panels and four around the ceiling8.   While the murals were about music, games, dance, and sports, they were also about regional diversity, unemployment, crime, and politics.   The murals were unveiled at the height of the Great Depression, giving them high social relevance.   In the treatment of his subjects, Benton showed informed understanding of his time.   This is not surprising given Bentons views and opinions regarding society and politics in America during that period. _____________ Greta Berman, Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal 1990: 200 Matthew Baigell with Allen Kaufman, The Missouri Murals: Another Look at Benton, Art Journal 1977: 314-315. 6 His controversial murals cinched Bentons fame.   In fact, because of his work, he found himself in the 1934 cover page of Time magazine, first time that an artist was given such an honor.   From then on, Benton became the leading figure in the Regionalist Movement in American art. In a span of five years, from 1930 to 1935, Benton created four enormous mural paintings, usually using the egg tempera technique that produces smooth and matte surfaces. Bentons murals during this period were: America Today, commissioned in 1930 for the New School of Social Research; The Arts of Life in America, his most controversial murals for The Whitney Studio Club Mural, which was shown to the public in 1932; A Social History of Indiana, made for the State of Indianas pavilion at the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair, and A Social History of Missouri, created between 1935 and 1936 for the House Lounge in the Missouri State Capitol Building, Jefferson City. Teaching Career The mural commission in 1935 for the House Lounge in the Missouri State, plus an art teaching position in the state decided Benton to leave the New York art scene, where heated artistic debacles abound9.  Ã‚   Thomas Hart Benton left New York, his residence for more than twenty years to take up a teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri.   This move was probably made to reconnect with the world of his childhood, where he left many years ago.   This also gave Benton more chances of seeing rural America, which was then giving way to modernization. _____________ Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site, 27 May 27 2005, 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.mostateparks.com/benton/teachguide.htm 7 Bentons teaching career at the Art Institute ended when he was fired for making disparaging remarks about the influence of homosexuals in Kansas Citys art industry.   Despite the setback, Benton remained popular until the late 1940s when Abstract Expressionism became the new fashion and eclipsed Regionalism. After his teaching career ended, Benton gave mural painting his full attention.   He created murals in public buildings like the Missouri State Capitol and the Harry S. Truman presidential library in 1960.   The work he did for the former president became the foundation of a friendship that lasted throughout their lives. On Jan. 19, 1975, Benton was working on the mural The Sources of County music when he passed away due to a heart attack.   The great Regionalist artist died with a brush in hand at the age of 85.   His last painting hangs in Nashville, Tennessee unsigned. Paintings Bentons paintings generally display swirling bands of color, which speaks of synchromism, a technique adopted from the artists friend Macdonald-Wright, where hues of colors are parallel to the notes in harmonies.   The artists favorite paint and paint technique is egg tempera. _____________ Selden Rodman, Fighter and Artist, National Review 1989: 44-47 8 For his paintings, Bentons subjects are usually bold with strongly marked movements.   The colors or tone contrasts are often intense.   Bentons subjects are often disproportionate, making them look like caricatures.   Despite the elongation of shapes in some instances, I still see that the overall effect still looked harmonious and balanced.   The artist often uses shades of blue and yellow to create space.   Yellow sometimes gave the paintings a weathered look, and could sometimes encourage a viewer to engage in melancholia, just like the painting below. The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, 1934, Oil Tempera Bentons painting called Persephone attracted a great deal of criticism particularly from women.   The figure probably offended some critics and many women because of the pubic hair that Benton painted for the first time.   This painting, done in 1939, marked Bentons break from his usual satiric and cartoon-like style.   The use of color is vibrant and expressive, while womanhood was depicted in a goddess-like manner. Murals Bentons murals were usually modeled using clay as a preparatory tool.   He initially overcame the difficulty of organizing a large number of figures in a linear space using vignettes.   To separate one panel from another, he used actual moldings to create boundaries for the scenes. But this technique proved cumbersome.   Benton developed a more organized visual ordering without the use of molding.   According to Berardi, Benton combined scenes by themes and utilized vertical posts to allow the eye some rest when moving across the canvas, a formal technique that Benton described fully in his Mechanics of Form Organization article.   Bentons murals that employed this solution include: American Historical Epic, The Arts of Life in America, and The Social History of Missouri. 10   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Just like in his paintings, Bentons subjects in his murals are also bold with strongly marked movements.   The colors are also strong.   In his murals, the overall composition dominates the objects to create a sense of space.   The sharp images and the caricature-like quality create memory recall even when viewed only once. Bentons works inspire only love and hate and no in-betweens.   For my part, I love Bentons work not only for the artists skill but also for their significance and historical value.   His works were not just figments of his imaginations, but were the result of extensive research and travels. Works Cited Baigell, Matthew, with Kaufman, Allen. The Missouri Murals: Another Look at Benton, Art Journal (1977): 314-315. Berardi, Marianne. Thomas Hart Benton. Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. (2000). 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa573.htm Berman, Greta Berman. Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal (1990): 199-201 Herberholz, Barbara. Thomas Hart Bentons home and studio. Arts Activities (2000): 40-49. Johnson, Mark M. On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America. 1999: 17-50. Rodman, Selden. Fighter and Artist. National Review (1989): 44-47 Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site, 27 May 27 2005, 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.mostateparks.com/benton/teachguide.htm

How Nelson Mandela used Rugby to unify South Africa Essay -- Politics,

After spending twenty-seven years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990. In 1991, Nelson Mandela was chosen to become president of the African National Congress. In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk announced an agreement that the African National Congress and the National Party form a transitional government, effectively ending apartheid and opening the political process to all South Africans (Williamson). Mandela was elected President of South Africa in 1994, and de Klerk became his first deputy. However, even with apartheid abolished, South Africa was still a divided country. Mandela’s legal adviser, Nicholas Haysom, said, â€Å"South Africa in 1994 was a country that was split, historically, culturally, racially, and so many other ways.† Within South Africa, there was a vast division between blacks and whites, and Mandela’s job was to bring them together. One way that Nelson Mandela brought South Africa together was through rugby. While this would seem to be an unlikely way to ease the racial tension, rugby was a crucial piece in the unification of South Africa. While Mandela was serving his time in prison, the international community began to put more pressure on South Africa to release him and end apartheid. To make sure their pressure was felt, opposing nations, especially New Zealand, began violently protesting when the Springboks visited to play (30for30). The Springboks, South Africa’s national rugby team, were banned from rugby in 1981. The ban was intended to affect the white South Africans and give the black South Africans leverage to use in negotiations to end apartheid. In 1992, after Mandela was freed, the African National Congress revoked the ban on rugby... ...any, 1994. Print. Mandela, Nelson. Mandela An Illustrated Autobiography. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. Print. Sampson, Anthony. Mandela The Authorized Biography. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knoff, 1999. Print. "Nelson Mandela: inauguration speech (1994)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. "Nelson Mandela: speech on his release from prison (1990)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. Taylor, Paul. "Father of His Country." Washington Post (Washington, DC). Feb. 13 1994: Mag. Sec. 10+. SIRS Researcher. Web. 30 Aug 2011. Williams, Michael W. "Nelson Mandela." Great Lives from History: The Twentieth Century. Ed. Robert F. Gorman. 10 vols. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 2008. Salem History Web. 30 Aug. 2011. Carlin, John. Playing the Enemy. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008. Print.

Mass in Minor B

Johann Sebastian Bach, popularly known as Bach, was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist, and was regarded as the supreme composer of the Baroque and one of the best of all time. His contributions are secular works for the choir, orchestra and solo instruments. Though he didn’t introduced new forms and he enriched the German style of music through a contrapuntal technique and adaptations of rhythm, forms and textures from other countries such as Italy and France. His musical style arose from the influences of the South German, North German, Italian and French music.During his time, Bach was popularly known on being on one extreme end of the spectrum, notating almost majority of the details of his melodic lines, particularly in his fast movements. He preferred dense contrapuntal textures which allowed lesser margin for the variation of his musical lines. Bach's contrapuntal textures have the tendency to be more cumulative than those of other compo sers before and nowadays. Noticeably, his harmony tends to use a brief ‘tonicisation' or a subtle reference to another key that lasts only a few beats at the longest. He also favored the supertonic to add color to his musical texture.Mass in Minor B Mass in B Minor is a complete musical setting in Latin Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. This was one of Bach's last works before his death in 1750. This musical setting is a composition of the music that Bach had made before. He divided the work in a score of four parts of the Latin Mass that was given each title page of their own. These are the Kyrie, Gloria, Symbolum Nicaenum or Credo and the group of Sanctus, Hossana, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. In total, the work consists of 27 sections. Kyrie The Kyrie which means â€Å"O Lord† has three parts as used in Mass in Minor B.The first was the Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy). It is a five-part chorus in B minor consisting of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass. Second was the Ch ristle eleison, a duet in D major with obbligato violins. The duet was in Soprano I and II. Last was another Kyrie eleison but this time with four-part chorus only in F# minor, consisting of a Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. Gloria The structure of Gloria or Gloria in exelcis Deo (Glory to God in the highest) composed of nine movements with the largely symmetrical structure and Domine Deus in the center.First movement was Gloria in excelsis, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major in 3/8 time. The music appears also as the opening chorus of Bach's Cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, Second was Et in terra pax, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major. Third was Laudamus te, an aria of Soprano II in A major with obbligato violin. Fourth was Gratias agimus tibi, a four-part chorus of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major. Fifth was Domine Deus, a duet of Soprano I and Tenor in G major, marked Andante common time.The sixth movement was Qui tollis peccata mundi, a four-part chorus of Soprano II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in B minor in 3/4 time. Seventh was Qui sedes ad dexteram Patri, an Aria for Alto in B minor with obbligato in 6/8 time. The eight movement wasQuoniam tu solus sanctus, an Aria of Bass in D major with obbligato in 3/4 time. And last but not the least was the Cum Sancto Spiritu, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major in 3/4 time. Credo Also known as Symbolum Nicaenum, Credo also had nine movements with symmetrical structure, and the crucifixion at the center.The first movement was Credo in unum Deum, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in A mixolydian. Second was Patrem omnipotentem, a four-part chorus of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major. Third movement was Et in unum Dominum, a duet of Soprano I and Alto in G major. Fourth was Et incarnatus est, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in B minor. Fifth was the Crucifixus, a four-part chorus of Soprano II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in E minor, in 3/2 time. The sixth part was Et resurrexit, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major in 3/4 time.Seventh was Et in Spiritum Sanctum, an Aria for Bass in A major in 6/8 time. The eight movement was Confiteor, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in F# minor. Last but not the least was Et expect, a five-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor and Bass in D major. Sanctus, Hossana, Benedictus and Agnus Dei The fourth part was a combination of Sanctus, Hossana, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. Agnus Dei is a Latin term which means Lamb of God. In the musical setting, this part composes of six movements. First was Sanctus, a six-part chorus of Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor and Bass in D major, in 3/8 time.Second was Hosanna, a double chorus with four parts both, in D major in 3/8 time. Third movement was Benedictus, an Aria for Tenor with flute obbligato in B minor in 3/4 time. Fourth was another Hosannna . Fifth was Agnus Dei, an Aria for Alto in G minor with violin obbligato. And last was Dona nobis pacem, a four-part chorus in D major. The Mass in Minor B was frequently performed was not played during Bach’s lifetime. Though there are some scholarly debates and arguments with the motivation of Bach to pursue its kind structure during that time, most composers believe that the Mass in Minor b was one of Bach’s best compositions of all time.

Internet Related Abuses And Cyberbullying - 1998 Words

NetSmartz Educational Program I. Introduction Internet-related abuses and cyberbullying has long been a concern of schools and universities, the government and the whole community. Efforts have been put forward to combat cyberbullying that include prevention and intervention programs at the community, school, and family levels. The development and implementation of clinical services are primarily designed to remediate and prevent the many deleterious effects of child abuse, either online or offline. In an effort to help educate children and protect themselves from online abuse and cyberbullying, the NetSmartz Educational Program was established by the National Center for Missing Exploited Children (NCMEC). In addition, the program also†¦show more content†¦Accordingly, NetSmartz’s activity cards are assured to be in line with the language arts, health, and technology standards of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Society for Technology in Education and the American Cancer Society. These standards have been provided to assist individuals when integrating NetSmartz resources into their individual educational framework. b. Teaching Materials NetSmartz Educational Program employs various teaching materials to make the learning experience of individuals as effective and as fun as possible. First, it uses videos and activity cards, which are documentary shorts and animations that are commonly accompanied by classroom lessons. Second, NetSmartz also uses internet safety presentations, which are interactive Powerpoint presentations devoted to different viewers, such as children, teens, tweens, and adults. Handouts are also employed as tip sheets and discussion guides. Safety pledges are also implemented by NetSmartz, which are age-appropriate rules that are used as a contract or pledge. NetSmartz has also teachable recipes that combine internet safety lessons with culinary fun. c. Statistics With the advent of technology and the rise of the internet, internet crimes and abuses had been continuously increasing. For an instance in 2004, there were about 3,433 child abuse domains online in the United States.