The expression of creative skill and human
imagination: art. Humans have been producing art for thousands of
years. Archaeologists have discovered instruments carved from
bones, pottery, and cave drawings dating back to 20,000 B.C. Over
time, art has evolved into a science. Artists can form gold and
silver into sculptures of a deity or king; cause metal to balance
seemingly against gravity; and remove years of aging from a
person’s face.
Painting has acquired the most recognition in the
many millennia since cave drawings. Artists such as Claude Monet,
Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali are known around
the world. Almost everyone has seen American Gothic, but
how many people know the name of this famous painting, or the
artist? Did you know that this painting by Grant Wood is smaller
than 5 square feet?
By the end of the 19th century, several art
movements had emerged that would prove to be influential to modern
art. Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism all contain recognizable
paintings, but not many people can name the style of art upon
seeing the painted canvas. Do you know what style of art this
painting is?
Salvador Dali is one of my favorite artists.
Although Dali did not limit himself to paintings, his surreal
masterpieces have always fascinated me. Elephants are a recurring
motif in many of his paintings. Cygnes Réfléchis en
Éléphant, or Swans Reflecting Elephants, brilliantly
encorporates Dali’s famous motif, but the swans aren’t
all that is reflected. Do you see the painter reflected in the
painting.
With so many amazing pieces of art representing
human creativity, I was inspired to paint my own magnum opus. I
call it Artistic Muggle5, but many might recognize it as
Green on Green.
