Museum Essay

Worksheet #1: First Comparison Group

Artwork #1

Title: Cattle

Location in exhibition: Cattle, Cotton and Oil section of the George Grosz Gallery Date created: 1952-1953

Give brief description of the artwork including media and style: George Grosz uses oil on canvas. He uses bright vivd colors and has no additive rough texture to exhibit the soft fur of the cattle. This painting shows one of the main cultures and business in the Dallas area. This style is naturalistic because Grosz keeps his colors and textures very real to what they are in the real world.

Artwork #2

Title: Pro and Contra

Location in exhibition: Right side of the entrance to the George Grosz Exhibit Date created: 1949

Give brief description of the artworks including media and style: The media of this art is ink on paper. The ink on paper makes this artwork seem more like a sketch than a well thought out piece like the other works of his in the gallery. The darker areas and shadows are just created with heavier usage of ink and lighter areas are just kept as the paper's color. This is a piece from his European collection, so the lack of color brings a gloomy almost boring feeling about this area of Europe. The style would be abstract because everything about the people in the work are so defined by sharp edges and thick lines and its not at all how people are in real life.

Identify two visual elements evident in both works; discuss how and where each is used in the artworks. Be specific. These paintings are contrasts of each other in the usage of line. The Cattle painting uses contour line, and Grosz differentiates between the different parts of the art work by using different colors and textures. In the artwork Pro and Contra, Grosz uses well defined directional lines which lead the viewer's vision in a certain way. Theses paintings are also contrasting in the usage of color. The first piece uses lots of warm bright colors and gives the viewer an entirely opposite mood than the second piece which uses a monochromatic color scheme of black ink and white paper.

Identify two principles of design evident in both works; discuss how and where each is used in the artwork. Be specific. The paintings contrast in their principles of design as well. The first painting exhibits unity with the cattle because they are all lined up and together and the viewers visual movement goes down the middle of the painting in one direction and back. The second painting uses variety in the peoples movements and actions and the viewers eye movement can vary each time the look at it. This variety helps create a bar scene setting.

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