Syrian artist Tammam Azzam’s ‘Syrian Museum’ presents a series of masterpieces by painters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Henri Matisse, Goya and Picasso superimposed unto the Syria’s devastated landscapes. This is the piece 'The Dance' by Matisse originally. The painting was combined with a scene from Syria using digital technology. The work was shared the picture on Azzam's Facebook page. It extends a political commentary on the upheavals in their homeland that have led to the Syrian Uprising and the subsequent destruction and violence.
The Dance (I)
The Dance (I) In March 1909 Matisse painted a preliminary version of this work, known as Dance (I) It was a compositional study and uses paler colors and less detail.[3] The painting was highly regarded by the artist who once called it "the overpowering climax of luminosity"; it is also featured in the background of Matisse's La Danse with Nasturtiums (1912).
It was donated by Nelson A. Rockefeller in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr. to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The Dance series is commonly compared to a William Blake watercolour, entitled Oberon, Titania and Puck with fairies dancing which had come around years earlier in 1786. It is not known whether Matisse ever saw this original painting or if it was the inspiration for his own works, but there is at least obvious similarities in their subjects, with a similar setup of dancing figures in a personal and charming display of emotion and happiness. Considering the length of art history and the broad knowledge which exists right across Europe, it is virtually inevitable that any painting will have had a similar one preceding it, so the similarities cannot alone be confirmation of influence upon Matisse some 130 years later.
Dance, above, was the second of the two paintings by Matisse, coming in 1910 and measuring 260 cm x 391 cm (102.4 in x 153.9 in). It is now stored in the The Hermitage in St. Petersburg due to the influence of a prominent Russian art buyer around the time of Matisse's life who was a massive supporter of his work and bought many of his most famous paintings after seeing ability which others seemingly could not. It is always highly surprising in the modern era to see how much this artist struggled for academic acceptance when there is clearly so much quality within so many of his paintings.
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burgessart.wordpress.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_(Matisse)
burgessart.wordpress.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_(Matisse)
Hi Ruby!! Interesting art work.
ReplyDeleteTammam Azzam copies the famous painting "The Dance" to the Syria’s devastated landscapes. The cold color of the background has some contrast to the hot color of the dancing people. That is very ironic to Syria because Syria still has war and people are poor and sad. But he copies a happy feeling painting on it. What he wants to say? Does he want Syria to stop the war and Syrian can be happy again?
However, why Tammam Azzam copies "The Dance" instead of other paintings? Also, why do you think this art work is interesting? Do you have special feelings on it?
Simple combination of classical masterpiece and modern photography actually works together impressively. The whole image became totally different from the referred one. I m quite interested in how actually it lead to political commentary and the subsequent destruction which you stated in your first paragraphs
ReplyDeleteAlso, did the artist mainly exhibit his work on Facebook? did he took the picture from himself?
ReplyDeleteI think these are also some interesting facts.
It is a interesting piece to combine the classic painting with a different approach which is photography. The result matches well in the piece!
ReplyDeleteYou've done very well in the research of information for the masterpiece"The dance" by Matisse.
To improve your paper, you may discussion on the relationship between the masterpiece and your selected piece.
Moreover, you can show more analysis on your selected piece by focusing on the idea, technique, composition and impression to others in your final paper.
Hope these can help:)
so good that you have found an interesting art piece to work on your assignment. I can feel the tension in this picture depicted by a combination of a classic painting and a modern photograph.
ReplyDeleteI have some suggestions that you might want to further investigate on.
First, why Azzam uses different colour to paint the hair of the women? Are there any implications behind it?
Second, the woman at the bottom has half of her leg stuck in the pile of stones. By this does the artist want to imply some meanings?
Hope my suggestions would help :)
These two pieces really show resemblance. These dancing people seem to be quite happy.What is your analysis on contrasting destruction and happiness?
ReplyDeleteIn the first piece, the dancing guys seem to be headless,right? And like Choi has mentioned. I am interested in knowing more about the historical changes of the place. Cant wait to see your presentation:D
Dear Ruby,
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to look deeper into how the meanings of the painting change from the original to Azzam's usage. In your presentation you talked about how you think this work reflects the artist's wish for hope and reconstruction of his country, but where does that new meaning emerge from? What is the relationship between the background and foreground? Also what is the reaction on Facebook and what is the effect of presenting art work on such platform that is different from traditional locations?