AHI 1C HW#8

Young Seok Kim

6/2/2015
Consider which of the concepts above may apply to the works below, which are ignored or
rejected, and which are modified. For each of the works illustrated below, write a short paragraph
answering the questions, What beliefs does the artist communicate to the viewer? Why?
Left: Gustav Klimt, Austrian, The Kiss, 1907-08, oil on canvas. Belvedere Museum, Vienna
The piece on the left depicts a pair of lovers, united through a kiss. In the painting a
couple is depicted embracing in a field of flowers. The man is bent over the woman, and
she is seen clinging tightly to him waiting for his kiss. The male figure is composed of
square and rectangular forms while the female figure is composed of soft lines and floral
patterns. Golden ornaments surround the couple but it ends at the bare feet of the female.
The pattern and shape of the fabric that shrouds the couple is reminiscent of the gold
background of Byzantine mosaics that portrayed Justinian I. The artist Klimt is trying to
portray the beauty and perhaps his own belief and vision of passion and love.
Right: Man Ray, French, Cadeau (Gift), c. 1958 (replica of a 1921 original), painted flatiron with
row of 13 tack heads glued to the bottom. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Right piece, unlike the painting in the left, shows an ordinary object turned into art.
By adding a row of nails, Man Ray transformed a household flat-iron into a new and
potentially threatening object. The nails and burning metal suggest a violence which is
ironic because of the works title, the French word for gift. Man Ray, like Duchamp
who made ordinary urinal into a Fountain, was part of Dada movement. Through hidden
meaning, Man Ray criticizes the world that exists which is not always what it seems to
be. The sharp nails and hot metal brings out artists view of the world and challenges that
of audience.