Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Arts and Humanities

Origins and Key Characteristics

Romanticism emerged as a powerful artistic and intellectual movement, surging across Germany, England, and France. A pivotal figure in its German inception was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose seminal work, The Sorrows of Young Werther, profoundly influenced the era. This novel vividly narrates the hardships of passionate, often violent, love that tragically culminates in suicide, embodying many core Romantic ideals.

Core Features of Romanticism

• Exaltation of the Individual

  A central tenet was the worship of the material world, transforming into an artistic and literary exaltation. This fostered a profound cult of privacy, individuality, and subjective nuance, placing the inner world of the artist at the forefront.

Realism in Literature

Realism focuses on the accurate observation of contemporary reality. As a result, the novel will be the predominant genre that best meets the goals of aesthetic and moral realism. The realist novel aspires to become a credible and accurate document of the society of the time.

Features:

• Objective observation (everything revolves around reality)
• Contemporary ambiance (there are things from the time of writing)
• Thesis approach (often defends an ideological thesis)
• Psychological analysis of the characters (they are common characters; the bourgeoisie dominates, and as the century progresses, the proletarians and marginalized, especially women)
• The omniscient narrator (a habitual type of narrator who knows all about the characters)

Carles Riba: "I Was Not More Like a Bird Alone..."

Poetic Metrics and Form

This strophic poem employs a form of accommodation, a technique widely used in the Renaissance but adapted here. Each of the three stanzas combines five Alexandrine verses (enneasyllabic) with a final hexasyllabic verse. The rhyme scheme follows ABBACDDDC.

Structural Analysis of the Poem

The poem is divided into three distinct sections, each corresponding to a stanza:

• In the first part, the poetic "I" expresses a desire to escape loneliness, even using the image of a bird flying over a great river (symbolizing life) to transform from "free water" into something that reaches the city.
• The second part emphasizes life's stresses. The poetic "I" feels less connected to those who

The Novel

Definition

The novel, a quintessential Renaissance literary genre, employed prose narrative techniques to depict character actions within specific settings. The term "novel" signifies something new, a fresh approach to storytelling distinguished by its innovative content and linguistic presentation.

Features

Primarily, the novel's literary purpose is to offer aesthetic beauty through reading, delighting the reader. Its descriptive and narrative nuances stem from its prose format, differentiating it from epic poems. Novels are often based on imagination and fantasy, creating fictional worlds inhabited by vivid characters.

Novelistic Currents

Two main currents exist in fiction: realism, which accurately portrays reality and engages with... Continue reading "Novels and Short Stories: A Literary Journey" »

Realism in Literature

Realism's main characteristic is its claim to depict the society of its time. It focuses on social and economic issues, and human passions. Besides being a contemporary social reality, a third feature is a script that works with loyalty to what exists, trying to present reality as it is, using an objective technique against romantic subjectivism. The authors attempt to discover the qualities, dislikes, and even social deformities. In conclusion, the elements of realism developed from Romanticism, such as manners and the taste for local and regional levels, but still eliminates some previous facets such as subjectivism, the excessive use of the imagination, or the constant evocation of the legendary past.

The novel was the... Continue reading "Realism in Literature: A Comprehensive Analysis" »

Quattrocento Architecture

The two architects of the Quattrocento who began the break with the Renaissance and earlier Gothic tradition were Brunelleschi and Alberti. Another important figure is Michelozzo.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)

Born and died in Florence, where all his artistic production took place. Although he was destined by his father for a notary career, he was soon able to engage in the arts. He began working in a goldsmith shop in Rome and conducted studies on Classical Antiquity.

He represents the first example of the Renaissance ideal artist with a solid humanist education and science (architect, sculptor, painter, goldsmith, engineer...). His work constitutes the starting point of Renaissance architecture.

Leon Battista Alberti

School Painters of Caracas

• Luis Alfredo López Méndez (1901 - 1996)

  Works: Flowers

• Marcos Castillo (1897 - 1966)

  Work: Still Life with Whiskey Bottle

• Pedro Ángel González (1901 - 1981)

  Work: The Chair of Caracas

• Rafael Ramón González (1894 - 1975)

  Works: ??

• Elisa Elvira Zuloaga (1900 - 1980)

  Works: Caracas Landscape and Trees

Impressionism

Emerging in 19th-century Europe, primarily France, Impressionism is broadly characterized by its attempt to capture light and the fleeting moment, regardless of the identity of the subject.

Impressionist Painters:

• Claude Monet (1840 - 1926)

  Works: Impression, Sunrise and Regatta at Argenteuil

• Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917)

  Work: Dancers Waving

• Camille Pissarro (1830 - 1903)

  Work: The Shepherdess

• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 -

Italian Renaissance Painting

Spanning the 15th and 16th centuries, Renaissance painting emerged within a religious and monarchical society enjoying a prosperous economic situation.

The painting of this period is intrinsically linked to the rebirth of classical antiquity, the profound impact of humanism on both artists and their patrons, the development of new artistic techniques and sensibilities, and the broader transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Age.

During this era, the artist achieved high social standing, often becoming an educated and valued member of high society. Principal patrons included the nobility, influential rulers, and various religious orders.

Origins and Italian Development

While its origins can be traced to both... Continue reading "Italian Renaissance Painting: Artists and Techniques" »

General Documentation: The Prophet (1933)

Catalog Details

• Title: The Prophet (El Profeta)
• Author: Pablo Gargallo
• Chronology: 1933
• Style: Cubism, incorporating the void
• Technique: Cast bronze (Sand-cast, patinated)
• Form: Free-standing sculpture (Sculpture in the round)
• Type: Standing figure
• Colors: Monochrome
• Location: Original location unknown. Several reproductions exist (e.g., Reina Sofia Art Center in Madrid).

Formal Analysis

Composition and Dimensions

This is a free-standing sculpture measuring 235 cm (H) x 65 cm x 50 cm, executed in sand-cast patinated bronze. This work is notable for incorporating negative space (the void) into the sculpture itself, giving it an open quality. It features a smooth texture.

The composition is based on a vertical axis,... Continue reading "The Prophet Sculpture by Pablo Gargallo: Form, Style, and Meaning" »

The Nature and Function of Tradition

Tradition encompasses the knowledge, skills, experiences, beliefs, and policies inherited from our ancestors. These elements collectively form tradition, fulfilling various functions, including instruction in human knowledge, morality, ritual, and folklore.

Traditions are the result of a historical process, providing meaning and ways to deliver essential understanding and possibilities to subsequent generations. While tradition offers immense wisdom, preventing us from starting from scratch repeatedly, it is also limited and conditional.

Understanding the world and our society through tradition allows us to adapt and provides basic foundational knowledge. We must recognize that traditions are fundamental to... Continue reading "Cultural Foundations: Tradition, Subcultures, and Civilization" »