Noah's Blog

  King Gayumars, Siyamak, and Hushang (detail), Sultan Muhammad, The Court of Gayumars, c. 1522, 47 x 32 cm, opaque watercolor, ink, gold, silver on paper, folio 20v, Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp I (Safavid), Tabriz, Iran (Aga Khan Museum, Toronto) https://smarthistory.org/arches-the-court-of-gayumars/ This is a watercolor painting that is part of a series of manuscripts that was done by not one or a couple artistit but after reading about it by a team of artists. The team of artists all had a specialty. The painting was originally done in 1522. This painting is about the Persian culture. From reading about the painting it happens to be one of the most famous from its time. There is a lot going on in this painting at first glance filled with color and immense details in every stroke. This painting is known for being eye-catching. At the center is the King Gayumar sitting on a mountain criss cross applesauce The rest of the painting seems to revolve around him. Two other primary figure...

  Thomas Moran, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (detail), 1872, oil on canvas mounted on aluminum, 213 x 266.3 cm (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Lent by the Department of the Interior Museum, L.1968.84.1) https://smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/geography-environment/        This is an oil canvas mounted on an aluminum painting done by Thomas Moran titled “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone”. Last week I described a similar art piece that brought American landscapes to life. This art piece has many similarities but also many differences. The art piece futures massive mountain walls on the right and left side with an electric blue river roaring down the middle. The painter uses the effects of the sun lighting up the canyon in the background of the painting but up close where travelers follow a narrow mountain path are hidden in the shadows of the canyon. Where the sun does hit the canyon it amplifies golds and browns of the earth material composed in the canyon...

      Thomas Cole, The Hunter’s Return , 1845, oil on canvas, 153.7 x 101.9 cm (Amon Carter Museum of American Art) https://smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/social-structures/        This is an oil on canvas painting by Thomas Cole named “The Hunter’s Return”. This original was done in 1845. This is a painting showing Europeans living off the land of the new world “now North America”. The name of the painting being “The Hunter’s Return” the main subject is a pair of hunters returning from the forest carrying some kind of animal tied by the legs strapped to two branches that the men rest on their shoulders returning back to the cottage. Even though the painting is named this the men are a small portion of the painting. The painting is showing off the beauty of the land around them. The sun is setting on the left of the painting, drawing shadows on the land from the trees. The left side of the painting is dark from the shadows as the right side is lit...