The first painting I have chosen for this gallery is, The Rapidity of Sleep. This painting was made in 1945, and was an oil on canvas, being 127 x 101.6 cm. Out of all surrealist artworks I have seen, this one took the most thinking to make it make sense. First impressions had me stumped. After seeing the colour choice, I felt that the plain, dull colours harmonise to make a sad atmosphere. The low horizon line, and empty sky draws your attention straight to the objects at the bottom of the painting. On the left of this painting, there seems to be objects lying down, asleep. Because the colour is this artwork creates a sad atmosphere, I began to realise that, in this artwork, sleep really represents the “sleep of death.” Given this artwork was made at the end of World War II, I sore that this painting represented the people on the battlefield, with those who look to be sleeping are actually the victims. As the title says, Rapidity of sleep, it means that more and more people are falling into the “sleep of death”. The low horizon, creating a large sky, brings in a feeling of emptiness, as if nothing has been gained. After looking at this painting, I feel like Tanguy is trying to yet again criticise war.
This painting done by Yves Tanguy was created in 1927, and was named Mama, Papa is wounded. The medium used was oil on canvas and the size is 92.1 x 73 cm. My first impressions of this artwork was that it looked sad, as the title portrays. The use of dark colour and dark tones create harmony, but also a sad and lonely atmosphere. The variety of placement for the objects creates blank spaces, putting this artwork out of balance. I feel the effect of this positioning creates more of a lonely atmosphere. Like Multiplication of the arcs, I see this as a reference to the war. At the back of the painting, there are two small, thin objects. I believe this represents the mother and son, and the green object to the left is the father. The “father” is being held back by strings, signifying that he won’t return. Then, towards the front of the painting, you can see two figures, and a shadow. Although the shadow is one from these two objects, I believe it represents more than that. I feel this shadow represents a missing, or to expect, a dead father. The dark cloud that is rolling in is like someone is trying to hide the sadness. Like the last painting, this is a clear reference to the war, as these paintings were common around this time. This artwork outlines the sheer amount of emotions when you lose someone. This artwork leaves the viewer feeling almost sad, and like the last artwork, it is a question towards war itself.
The artwork is name Multiplication of the arcs. It is an oil on canvas painting, and is 101.6 x 152.4 cm. The artwork was created in 1954 by Yves Tanguy. This artwork is considered surrealism as it presents a dreamlike and unnatural world, with inhuman objects that leave the viewer confused but curious. The title, Multiplication of the arcs, suggest that these objects are known as arcs, and have been rapidly multiplying, leaving us wondering how and why? This effect of this is that the viewer is left searching the painting for clues about the how and the whys. I feel the effect of colour in this painting is just to confuse and baffle the audience even greater than they were, and I feel that the colour has no significance. I feel this artwork is a reference to war, as surrealism took bits and pieces from dada which was greatly affected by the war. It is as if these “arcs” represent a force multiplying for a purpose, like war. Thick, white 3-dimentional objects, different from the arcs, create movement in this artwork, while the sheer number of arcs creates rhythm, making it seem the arcs are about to move off. I believe this artwork brings out the curiosity inside people, making you wonder what they are doing, and what they are really multiplying for. I think that Tanguy uses this painting to question the real world.
|