Venus and Andy Warhol free essay sample

Botticelli created the beautiful, captivating, and norm breaking Birth of Venus. It depicts the story of the goddess Venus, having emerged from the sea as a full grown woman arriving at the shore. Painted in 1486, and with the medium of tempera on canvas, The Birth of Venus hangs in the Uffizi gallery in Florence Italy. This renaissance painting is huge and is 67. 9 inches tall by 109. 6 inches wide. Andy Warhol’s screen print Venus was done is 1984 and has been mass produced all over the country. There are many critiques and analysis for both of these pieces. Also there is a large amount of comparisons between the two, because they are both of the same goddess. There is a lot of historical background pertaining to Botticelli’s masterpiece because of the era in which it was created: The Renaissance. Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is his most famous painting, and was once hung in the Medici Villa. We will write a custom essay sample on Venus and Andy Warhol or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the composition Venus is in the middle drifting towards the sea shore. Venus is nude and at this time in the Renaissance nudity was not common, so is mythological image was risky. To the right of Venus a woman is waiting to clothe Venus, but she is floating away from the woman in her sea shell boat. To her left the god Zephyr and Flora are there to witness her arrival. The use of perspective in this painting is realistic because there is a vanishing point where the sky meets the water. The background is full of natural blues, and the white caps of the ripples in the water lead the viewer’s eyes toward the front of the piece. Shadow and light is used to make curves on the figures rather than outline, which were also becoming new in this period. All of the bodies seem to be very spiritualistic because of how they almost float above the ground. Sandro made the feet of the figures with flexed or almost pointed toes. This adds a really graceful flying look to the people. Also The placement of Zephyr and Flora is cornered so the look as if they are flying into the image. Also the way the clothing seems like it is blowing around the people gives movement to the picture. The subject matter here is a nude woman which is different from the Neo-Platonic rules of society. Mythological scenes in the Renaissance show how the people became more interested in not just religious subject matter, but more of a worldly view on art. In the second half of the fifteenth century portraits of everyday people such as average women, fellow artists and even peasants were more popular and in demand. People of this period became much more aware of themselves, and not just what religion based ideas said. Pop Art is seen as a trend now, because it’s printed on clothing, posters, magazines, bags, and even shoes. In pop art the medium is as important as the message, unlike in renaissance art. Religious paintings were the most common subject in the renaissance period. But The Birth of Venus could be considered pop art of the Renaissance because it was a nude woman and not a religion based fresco style piece. Pop art is supposed to relate to the current times, and when Botticelli painted his masterpiece, people were starting to get worldlier. Andy Warhol was an American painter, print maker, and filmmaker who were one of the best pop artists in history. He has many famous pieces such as his Marilyn Monroe, Eight Elvis’s, Banana, and of course Venus. Eight Elvis’s was sold for 100 million dollars in 1963. He used a technique called screen printing. Screen printing is a technique that uses woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil. The stencil forms an open area of mesh that can transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp edged image onto a substrate. Then a roller is used to cover the screen stencil and the ink is applied over the woven parts, creating the negative space. This process has become very common today with clothing, fabrics, accessories and posters. Venus is the subject in Warhol’s rendition, but it is just her head. Warhol did many repeated patters of the same image but used different color combinations on each of them. The idea is you buy multiple pieces of the image, but each is a different color. Because this image was a screen print, there are many different colors and color combinations of this one image. For example on one version Venus has a black face with vibrant red, yellow and orange hair. In another version the background is completely black, while Venus is more muted, by this I mean she does not look as bold, but bold colors are still used. She has pale skin, with the same red, yellow, orange vibrant hair only with a clear matte covering over it to give the faded effect. In another popular version the background is purple, and Venus’s face is blue, with the vibrant fire colored hair. The composition of Warhol’s Venus is much simpler than Botticelli’s. It is just her head, neck and a small portion of the top of her left shoulder. She is centered on the rectangular piece with her pony tail flowing to the right and her loose hair around the left side of her neck. She is still making the same facial expression as the original and her body position is still relaxed and comfortable. The line work is very heavy. There is alternating line color and thickness to show her curls in her hair. Also the details of her face are partially done in contour lines. For example the nose and the eyebrows are simple lines but done in a contrasting color of the face. The shadows and highlights on Venus are done in neon colors or hard whites. There is a lot of contrast of color within each screen print. The shadows and line work is all done in a color of an opposite hue. The negative space in the print is always the background. This negative space makes all of the prints go together and look consistent, the negative spaces never change. If these negatives spaces were different in each composition there would be no sense of unity in Warhol’s work. Therefore for his style, space was a key element. Like mentioned earlier, The Birth of Venus was a breakthrough for the late fifteenth century. It was the first art work done to relate to mythological ideas. This went against the Neo-Platonic philosophy and the ancient thought. Mythology does not always correlate with the Christian ideas, but often are similar. The difference is myths are much more fiction based, and made to show symbolism while biblical stories are stated as facts in history. Venus is in a very relaxed contrapposto pose, which at the time was perceived as very sexual. Most paintings at the time the subject was facing to the side or directly forward. And of course not only is Venus standing like this, but she is also nude. This just reassures the viewer that she is a sexual symbol, and is very seductive and beautiful. At the time, this was all new and risky. People began to become more interested with events that were on a more global scale, not just a biblical view. Other pieces like Donatello’s David, caused controversy for the same reasons. He is nude, young, and sexual. Hercules and Antaeus was also a bronze statue with mythical meaning and nudity. When Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus the ruling Medici family was buying Flemish art for their palace. They had tons of tapestries and panel paintings. The Medici family fell in love with his art and he started creating painting for them such as the Primavera and The Birth of Venus. Pop art was a movement that started in Britain and America around the 1950s. â€Å"The Arts and the Mass Media† is another term for pop art and pop culture. The movement is characterized by themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as television, movies, advertising and comic books. It is easy to understand and easy to see because pop art is iconic, and current. Andy Warhol was alive during the heart of pop culture which made him so famous. At the time people like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Annie Oakley, and Albert Einstein were icons so he based his art off of them. His first famous print was of tons of flavors of the traditional red and white Campbell’s soup cans. Everyone can relate to these images, so everyone liked them. Campbell’s soup is a house hold item that the rich, poor and middle class had in common. So when Warhol made the print Venus he transformed it into pop art with a message. The message is to rebel, and be unique because the original painting was. This is a statement to be bold and risky, like the nude Venus. She was iconic in the 1500s and she is now iconic in the twentieth century. Pop art caused lots of controversy in the fifties due to the alcohol bans, civil rights, powerful women, JFK, sex, wars etc. Art was able to be created about all of these issues, and the public was able to see and access it. There are many similarities between The Birth of Venus and Venus. They both mainly represent love and compassion. Venus was the goddess responsible for those two traits. Other than the fact they have the same person in both of them, they are also compositionally alike. They both have a negative space as the background. This allows all the attention to be brought forward in the pieces and on to Venus. She is centered in both images, which makes her the most important and focal point of the pictures. In both Botticelli and Warhol’s art works Venus has red hair, and they both have sexual notions. Each of them are iconic images, by this I mean everyone who looks at either picture knows that this is Venus. Warhol’s Venus is obviously pop art but The Birth of Venus could also be called pop art. This is true because pop art deals with what is important, and current of the time. When there was more of an interest on global art rather than just religious art Botticelli made this piece for the Medici family. Therefore it has the same ideas that are behind the meanings of pop art. On the other hand there are a vast amount of differences as well. For one the medium screen printing was not even available in the late 1500s. Botticelli used tempera on canvas and there is only one original of this masterpiece. In other words Botticelli could not mass produce his picture with the same medium as the original like Warhol can. But that is mainly based on the time and age differences and technology. Botticelli’s colors are more natural and human like while Warhol’s are electric and are high in contrast. The Birth of Venus has natural lighting and shadows brought on by the other figures and setting around her. Venus has shadows in opposite colors and more obscure color combinations. He also uses contour lines, and obvious line work within the face and hair of Venus. Warhol decided to focus only on her head, while Botticelli painted an entire seen and story line with multiple figures. In all, both images are quite amazing. Venus was an amazing goddess who symbolized what society and real people are like. Even though the bible keeps sex, mythology, and love to a minimum does not mean everyone thinks about these thing. Botticelli was just the first to admit and prove it to society. So like pop artist Andy Warhol he followed along with current ideas and made a masterpiece. Warhol is one of the most famous artists of this century; he is like the Rafael, Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo of the 20th century. It’s hard to say which piece I believe is better. They are both so different, but stand for the same beautiful things. I guess it’s just based on which is easier for the viewer personally to relate to.