Fred's Art 200x Blog

  Korean Landscape Painting The Korean Peninsula is at the far Eastern edge of the Asian mainland. It sits nestled between China and Japan and the cultural interchange between these distinct cultures has influenced language, customs, and art. One of the most prominent areas of cultural exchange has been in the form of landscape painting. While Chinese and Japanese contributions to this art form have been acknowledged worldwide, it is only recently that the masters of the Korean tradition are finally getting their due.  "The term for landscape paintings in East Asia translates as “mountains and water” (Chinese:  shanshui ; Korean:  sansu ; Japanese:  sansui ), because landscapes always feature these two elements, often in the form of a grand mountain peak and a waterfall, or rolling hills along a river. Whether real locations or imagined settings, painted landscapes evoked the experience of being in nature and became a virtual means of escape from the hardships of urban living (Har

Art of the 1940's The 1940's were a time of change. America had recovered from the Great Depression but the country was still dealing with its impacts. Many of the children that grew up during the Depression turned to art as adults to help document their experiences.  The world was reeling from the outbreak of World War II while still attempting to process the collective trauma of World War I. Hitler's oppression of artists he deemed "degenerate" as well as the influx of European immigrants fleeing war exposed many young American artists to the novel ideas about art being developed in Europe.  This post will explore these changes through the work produced by 3 artists in the decade between 1940 - 1950; Jacob Lawrence, Pablo Picasso, and Mark Rothko. Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2020) Jacob Lawrence  was an American painter from New Jersey who was known for his portrayals of contemporary African-American life.  One of his best known works is a series of 60 panels called