Analysis of Rhetorical Styles from Environmental and Economical Viewpoints within the Fracking Debate

Beginning in 1998, the combination of two natural gas extraction processes sparked a natural gas extraction boom in the US. The process of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, injects a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into a rock to encourage the formation of fractures which in turn enhances the flow of natural gas and oil to the surface (The Process). When combined with the process of horizontal drilling that turns a well horizontal at a particular depth, the fracking industry has been able to tap into many unconventional natural gas deposits with greater ease (Garmezy). Such modern techniques met little restrictive governmental policy upon first appearance, which generated a particularly unregulated industry. In the years since, more substantial fracking policy has been enacted, albeit policy that greatly favors the economy over the environment. This discrepancy has created a thread of controversy within these two disciplines that exposes itself within each discipline’s style of rhetoric. Analysis of these two styles displays the current mindsets of each party towards fracking and the paths they intend to pursue for further involvement or disengagement from the practice.

Both environmentalists and economists dissect the practice of fracking in a factual manner, citing many case studies and statistics. An article entitled “The Environmental Costs and Benefits of Fracking”, written from an environmentalist perspective, employs author credibility, a fragmented structure, visuals, technical writing, and a focus on personal health concerns to convey significant aspects of the fracking practice. In light of their standing, they seek to develop methods that may reduce the detrimental impact of fracking on the environment and benefit society as a whole. “Fracking: Blasting the Bedrock of Business” is an economical article that conveys its author's perspective on fracking through negative, direct language, credible quotes, statistics, case studies, and a look at the cause-and-effect relationship of fracking towards the environment and towards democracy. Through such rhetoric, the authors seek to directly claim that fracking is crippling the environment and the economic sector simultaneously. Whereas environmentalists seek only to offer new solutions to fracking-induced environmental issues, economists are owning up and presenting the facts concerning the dangers associated with fracking to display the environmental harm and the threat to democracy they believe is occurring. Interestingly, and initially appearing through their evolving style of writing, the economic sector that stands to benefit most from fracking is now the first to raise the red flag, from both the business and environmental perspective.

It is a surprise that the scholarly discipline that seems to reap the greatest benefits from the fracking industry is now the first to draw attention to the many possible detrimental aspects of the business. Even though environmentalists and economists seem to maintain stances at opposite ends of the spectrum of fracking, it is noteworthy that the environmentalists do not propose to eradicate fracking altogether–the task would be much too daunting. Rather, they analyze the issue from a new vantage point, and seek to educate the general public about the concerns of fracking, attempting to offer novel solutions that satisfy both parties.

Scientific writings primarily contains the same core elements: an abstract, introduction, body, discussion, and conclusion. Both of these articles follow this skeletal setup; however, the key difference lies in the body portion. The environmentalist viewpoint article is segmented by six subheads. These subheads indicate topic shifts such as “Resource Productivity” to “Water Requirements” to “Well Integrity” etc. This breaks up the length of the article, offering readers a chance to skim to the topic that most interests them. In contrast, the economic viewpoint article does not contain any segmentation, creating a lengthy read full of facts and figures. The environmental article achieves a more organized conveyance of ideas and conclusions, whereas the economic article contributes a similar amount of knowledge, but in a much less reader-friendly format.

A place of personal choice within scientific writing involves the liberty of incorporating visuals. The environmentalist viewpoint article chose to incorporate graphs and tables, but not within the main body of text. The graphs and tables that help substantiate their argument are accessible by a scroll tab on the right-hand side of the page. This decreases the amount of interruptions within the read, but still provides the reader with easy access to the evidence. Contrastly, the economic viewpoint article chose to forgo the inclusion of visual aids. This could be due to the newness of fracking and therefore the lack of credible research to draw from. This choice places all of the emphasis solely upon the text and the ideas presented within.

Important to all academic writing is credibility, especially when contributing to a topic so widely discussed as fracking. At the top of the page before the environmental article begins is a list of the authors and their respective universities and laboratories of employment. This functions as their key source of credibility for the remainder of the article, along with their decision to lay out the current research regarding fracking before offering any unique ideas of their own for further research and recommendations for better regulation. They chose to forgo building credibility from excessive quoting or even from name recognition with in-text citation. Their text contains no quotes and their in-text citations are listed only by number, leaving the sources referenced vague. They instead relied on their own credentials as scholars to build credibility.

In comparison, the article from the economic viewpoint chose to utilize standard in-text citations for their referenced sources. They cite numerous case studies and statistics. The article also included few factual quotes from fellow economists and engineers. For example, to substantiate their claim that further research is necessary, the authors of the economical article quoted economist Barth saying, "Before making any decisions regarding shale gas drilling...we must insist on comprehensive, unbiased, peer-reviewed assessments of economic impacts" (Twomey). Another quote came from T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oilman and natural gas advocate who opposes the selling of US natural gas internationally. He says, "We're truly going to go down as the dumbest generation. It's bad public policy to export natural gas - a cleaner, cheaper domestic resource - and import more expensive, dirtier OPEC oil," (Twomey). The inclusion of credible, scholarly quotes like these builds the article’s ethos.

Environmental as well as economic conversations tend to be technical in language. The following is an excerpt from the article with an environmental viewpoint: “Increasing or decreasing pressure within the casing of simulated wells above 4,000–7,000 psi resulted in the formation of a permeable microannulus at the casing-cement interface” (Jackson et al.). The specific vocabulary and quantitative inclusions directs the content towards those already familiar with the topic. Unique to the economic article is the long discussion on the policy governing fracking. Potentially the most influential rhetorical choice within the economist's viewpoint article is the repeated utilization of negative language. The title, subtitles, and many instances throughout the text are phrased in a negative manner, such as, “Legal and Political Implications of Fracking: Compromising the Principles of Democracy” and “Lawsuits Do Not Provide Adequate Protection for the People” (Twomey). This creates a bias, whether intended or not, within the reader’s mindset. I cannot speak for the author’s direct intent, but this negative perspective comes across as intentional and purposeful. It serves as a vehicle for the author’s to present an unexpected stance against fracking from both the economical and environmental sides of the situation.

Environmentalist purposefully voice their concerns regarding fracking and the ensuing environmental implications. The logical flow text in conjunction with the direct, pointed language creates a solid body of work filled with credibility. The economists share their assessment that fracking is a short-term business success yet a long-term business failure due to faulty governmental policy, leading to a compromise in democracy. Their negative voice fills the article with a strong bias against fracking and against the government. Both disciplines achieve their goal of contributing to the current fracking debate but achieve this through unique means and modes of communication. The largest takeaway is found within the economist's viewpoint article–that the field that benefits most is courageously stepping out first in opposition to such an untested and unregulated practice. This presentation is likely to encourage a more open discussion in regards to fracking and has the potential to lead to legislative changes.



Works Cited

Garmezy, Adam. “Balancing Hydraulic Fracturing"s Environmental and Economic             Impacts: The Need for a Comprehensive Federal Baseline and the Provision of           Local Rights.”
 
Jackson, Robert et al. "The Environmental Costs and Benefits of Fracking."                     Annual Review of Environment and Resources 39 (2014): 327-362. Print.

“The Process of Hydraulic Fracturing.” United States Environmental Protection                Agency. EPA, 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Twomey, Daniel F., et al. "Fracking: Blasting the Bedrock of Business." Competition          Forum 12.1 (2014): 204-16. ProQuest. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Depression Reports: Psychiatry vs Science

Each year, 42,773 Americans die from suicide, there are 25 attempts at suicide for every suicide, and over 50 percent of all people who die by suicide are victims of major depression. These statistics are extremely alarming, which is why there is so much research being done on depression. The people who treat and report on depression are mainly scientists/doctors and psychiatrists. They diagnose and approach depression in completely different ways, as well as the way their reports are written because of how their experiments and research are conduced. Scientists conduct experiments so that their results give them quantitative data. Psychiatrists conduct experiments based on interviews, and observing patients’ behaviors, so their data is qualitative. Noticing the difference of how scientists and psychiatrists report differently on depression is important for research on the disorder, and how to properly treat all kinds of cases. Statistics show that 80-90 percent of those who are diagnosed with depression have faster and more positive and noticeable improvements through consulting with psychiatrists. However, people seem to go to a scientist or doctor for help because they have the medical facts. From comparing scientists and psychiatrists writing, the treatment of depression victims can improve.

Nearly all of the articles written by scientists about depression and mental illness are correspondences, meaning that they try to find a correlation between two variables. For example, studies have found that drinking water out of a plastic bottle that has been sitting in a hot car can cause cancer. This contributes to their rhetorical approach to depression. They are desperate to give victims of depression answers, so they try to find links to it. One study has linked tobacco usage to depression; another has linked downsyndrome with anxiety. This says something specific, which is that scientists are all about quantitative approaches. This is proved by the following quote written in a report by a scientists showing correlation between personality and treatment, “To investigate the associations between the Big Five personality traits and depression diagnosis, logistic regression analyses were conducted. The association of the Big Five personality domains with the severity and age of onset of depression was examined using linear regression analyses.” After they test the personality, age, and level of depression, they will have numerical data to use for their reports to back up their thesis.

Scientists’ articles are written similar to lab reports, complete with tables or graphs to display the quantitative data. Throughout the reports they continually refer to the tables and what the data in those tables shows in regards to whatever they are trying to show correlation. This being said, their approach to depression and mental illness is extremely treatment based and experimental, evidence is provided by this quote, “The outcomes of this study are of considerable clinical relevance, because they suggest the value of the involvement of Big Five personality diagnostics in the treatment of late-life depression. A number of studies which linked their results to clinical practice highlighted the influence of personality characteristics on treatment outcome. For example, higher levels of Neuroticism were reported to predict slower recovery from late-life depression.” They try to find a correlation between depression and personality through experiments in an attempt to customize the best treatment for each patient depending on their personality. They directly test and analyze biological aspect of the body in order to find out what treatment will give the best results. Which is why their write-ups on mental illness is like a lab report. They have this approach because scientists can easily make sense of things if they are concrete and are backed by scientific evidence. This is why they have quantitative data in their reports. Their findings are also quantitative, for example this is the conclusion the scientists found after the study, “Consistent with our hypotheses, Neuroticism, Extraversion and Conscientiousness were found to be associated with the presence of a depression diagnosis in later life. The same pattern was found for severity of depression, contrary to findings in a comparable previous study.” Psychiatrists write their papers about the subject like a lab report as well, however their writing style is completely different.

Psychiatrists fail to include charts and tables in their papers. This is because in order to use a graph or table, you need quantitative data, which is what the psychiatrists are lacking. Their diagnosis of depression and mental illness are strictly based on behavior and symptoms rather than quantitative tests, there is evidence of this given by this quote, “Psychiatrists used medical language and focused almost solely upon symptoms of depression and the agreed diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis.” Psychiatrists diagnose depression by following their intuition and clinical impression, so there wouldn’t be any numbers from tests or scales to include in their papers. There is however diagnostic criteria composed in a book that psychiatrists refer to in order to diagnose a patient with the correct disorder. However, they sometimes go against this “guide line” because they feel that sometimes their instincts and clinical impression are better at diagnosing patients than a book is because they feel strongly that each patient is incredibly unique. Psychiatrists argue in their reports that these people develop depression because of life changing events rather than a biological defect. The following evidence that supports this is a quote from a psychiatrist, “I talk to really many patients with something which I would call crises or existential problems. But I have difficulties accepting the medical concept of depression because I think—perhaps the sensitivity is OK, but the specificity I think is absolutely hopeless—if I am trying to distinguish from normal life crises.” They have this approach because they have been trained to analyze patient’s initial reactions and behaviors to things, and concentrate on the way they think rather than the anatomy and physiology of their body. This is why they choose to not conduct experiments with quantitative data and biological studies. They choose to conduct qualitative experiments and record patient's’ responses and behaviors.

Some people may say that scientists write in a more factual manner than psychiatrists do. One general practitioner writes, “Psychiatric diagnoses are not valid because they are based on symptoms rather than on objective tests.” However, this is not entirely true; scientists only approach, and report about depression in a quantitative manner but it does not mean that it is more factual or credible than psychiatrists. Both psychiatrists and scientists have credible things to say in their own research and writing styles. However, sadly society tends to lean toward the scientists’ approach because they write in a quantitative manner. They compose experiments and collect data, enter the data into tables, and include them in their reports. The psychiatrists write in a more qualitative manner, use a lot of medical terminology, and do not use any quantitative data to back up their diagnoses in their reports. This does not lessen psychiatrists credibility, it only shows a different approach to their research, diagnosis, and reports. These differences in the way these two fields of study report on depression does not make one more credible over the other. It would seem that the scientists’ reports would be more accurate and believable given all of the data, however the statistics suggest that psychiatrists have a higher success rate than doctors. This being said, psychiatrists and scientists/doctors can learn something from each other. Psychiatrists need some sort of quantitative data to make them seem more credible and legitimate to patients, and scientists/doctors need to pay less attention to the medical facts and start listening to the patient about what they feel more. When these two professions combine to work together on curing patients with depression, the suicide and suicide attempts will surely drop.

Works Cited:

Davidsen, Annette S., and Christina F. Fosgerau. "What is Depression? Psychiatrists' and GPs' Experiences of Diagnosis and the Diagnostic Process."International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being 9 (2014)ProQuest. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Hall, Harriet. "Psychiatry-Bashing « Science-Based Medicine." Psychiatry-Bashing « Science-Based Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/psychiatry-bashing/>.

Koorevaar, A.m.l., H.c. Comijs, A.d.f. Dhondt, H.w.j. Van Marwijk, R.c. Van Der Mast, P. Naarding, R.c. Oude Voshaar, and M.l. Stek. "Big Five Personality and Depression Diagnosis, Severity and Age of Onset in Older Adults." Journal of Affective Disorders 151.1 (2013): 178-85. Web.

Economic and Environmental Implications of Fracking

The modern natural gas extraction process termed fracking has sparked a national debate in regards to economic and environmental impacts. This process has seen substantial growth over the past few years thanks to the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that proliferates the amount of natural gas reserves that are able to be reached. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stimulates the formation of fractures within rock formations to encourage the flow of natural gas and oil to the surface. This is accomplished by injecting a fluid that contains water, sand, and chemicals down into the rock (The Process). Horizontal drilling turns a well horizontal at a certain depth. This allows companies to reach unconventional natural gas deposits much more easily. From 1998 until now, the combination of these two processes has led to a fracking boom in the US (Garmezy). Both economists and environmentalists take part in the fracking debate. Where environmentalists see danger, economists see another way to earn a buck.

Economically speaking, fracking provides the US with millions of jobs and a much needed energy source. Robert Blackwill and Meghan O’Sullivan write the following about fracking:

     Since 1971, when US oil production peaked, energy has been construed as                a strategic liability for the country, with its ever-growing thirst for reasonably          priced fossil fuels sometimes necessitating incongruous alliances and complex          obligations abroad," they write. "That logic has been upended, and the newly            unlocked energy is set to boost the US economy and grant Washington newfound    
leverage around the world (Usborne).

As a large and growing nation, the US is dependent upon oil supply, and currently, that is controlled by The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). But, because of this new practice of fracking, US oil independence is now a more likely reality–a reality economists place their focus on in effort to gain public support. In his article for The Independent, David Usborne writes,

     It's also power, and not in the combustion sense. Thanks to the success of                  engineers...in pushing the frontiers of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", to              access reserves of oil trapped in shale formations...America is poised to displace      Saudi Arabia as the world's top producer. With that could come a hobbling of            Opec and unforeseen shifts in US foreign policy (Usborne). 

Pulling the potential environmental dangers out of the equation, both parties can agree on the economic benefit there is to be had from fracking. But, environmental implications cannot be ignored. For a while now, fracking companies have profited from the newness of the practice. Many businessmen, and government officials were not aware of the potential dangers associated with fracking. But more recently, many components of the fracking process have been called into question by environmentalists. Environmentalists fear irrevocable contamination to groundwater supply, backflow fluids, greenhouse gas emission, and the impact on rural lands and resource reserves.

Taking a closer look at one of these consequences shows where the thinking of these two fields diverges. Vast amounts of rural land and habitats are being disrupted by fracking companies. The large machinery and trucks needed are not only damaging the land, but also rural infrastructure. The rural roads were not built to withstand numerous truckloads per day carrying heavy loads. The fracking industry justifies its presence, saying that fracking boosts these rural economies. Environmentalists fight back citing the negative aspects of fracking, particularly contaminated drinking water and seismic activity.

A conversation about fracking is not complete without a look at the policy governing this practice. Governmental legislature clearly showcases the disagreements that lace through this practice. Currently, the majority of fracking policy lies heavily in favor of the economic value of the practice at the expense of environment preservation. In 2005, Congress assessed the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act and exempted fracking exercises from its stipulations. Many speculate this exemption stemmed from the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) report that cited fracking as only a “minimal threat” to drinking water (Manuel). This study one looked at one type of drilling and did not directly monitor any wells that could plausibly be contaminated due to proximity to drilling sites. Others align more with the theory that fracking businesses are the ones who really pulled the strings.

When Bush took office in 2001, he quickly created the National Energy Policy Development Group, chaired by his Vice President, Dick Cheney. In light of fracking, this task force left a major loop hole in the legislature, commonly referred to as the Halliburton Loophole , that greatly benefits American business. Daniel Twomey writes, “This loophole eliminated-by legal fiat-the economic risks of fracking's environmental contamination and compromised individual rights to clean air and water for anyone living in or near fracking operations” (Twomey).

The increasing public awareness about fracking has initiated the generation of new policy. The FRAC act (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) was introduced to Congress in 2009. This act would further regulate fracking practices and require companies to disclose the chemicals they use. But, for unknown reasons, the legislation has yet to be decided upon. The disagreement between economists and environmentalists about what needs to be done regarding fracking is influencing congressmen and dividing the vote. This is stifling any immediate policy change.

Looking at economic value versus environmental concerns portrays an all too familiar picture of American business practices. At face value, fracking is a government-regulated practice that seeks to increase America’s energy independence. Digging deeper, it becomes evident that all of the policy in place greatly favors the expansion of the industry with no thought given to environmental harm, especially long term damage. Rosenberg writes,

Despite the rapid pace of development of unconventional oil and gas resources enabled by fracking across the United States, and its influence on domestic and international energy markets, there is remarkably little independent information available to the public on the effects, both positive and negative, of such an undertaking (Rosenberg).

Economists and environmentalists are quick to agree upon the usefulness of fracking, but the simplicity stops there. Environmentalists protest the practice, saying that in the long run fracking will lead to more environmental problems than economic good. Economists view the earth as a resource that is available to capitalize on, even if the capitalization produces a few residual side effects. Overall, the untested nature of the fracking industry may be producing serious and harmful long term environmental effects, all because of splotchy legislation that places economic success above public well-being. Until further research is completed, these two parties will remain divisive, therefore creating legislature that fails to fully appease either side.


Works Cited

Garmezy, Adam. “Balancing Hydraulic Fracturing"s Environmental and Economic             Impacts: The Need for a Comprehensive Federal Baseline and the Provision of           Local Rights.” Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 23.2 (2013): 405–439.           Print.

Jackson, Robert et al. "The Environmental Costs and Benefits of Fracking." Annual           Review of Environment and Resources 39 (2014): 327-362. Print.

Manuel, John. "EPA Tackles Fracking." Environmental health perspectives 118.5               (2010): 1. ProQuest.   Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Rosenberg, Andrew A., et al. "Exposing Fracking to Sunlight." Issues in Science and          Technology 31.1(2014): 74-9. ProQuest. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

“The Process of Hydraulic Fracturing.” United States Environmental Protection                 Agency. EPA, 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Twomey, Daniel F., et al. "Fracking: Blasting the Bedrock of Business." Competition           Forum 12.1 (2014): 204-16. ProQuest. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Usborne, David. "How Fracking is Turning America into World's Biggest Oil Producer."         The Independent: 32. Mar 12 2014. ProQuest. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Mental Illness: Psychiatry vs. Science

Mental illness is something that has been taken more seriously in the past decade. The only cases that were taken seriously, or acted upon were those where the patients were so crazy that they had to reside in a psychiatric hospital or nursing home, kept in a straight jacket. Now, even mild forms of mental illness like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder are taken very seriously as a result of the increased rates of suicide. In fact, most college campuses have counseling centers as well as medical doctors for mental health to aid students with signs of depression. They even counsel students who are stressed over academics or personal issues who do not have signs of depression. Why has mental illness increased in seriousness? It is because of studies in both scientific and psychiatric fields that helped people realize the seriousness and reality of mental illness, specifically depression.

Some people believe that mental illness is a myth, like Michael Cornwall. He thinks that depression and the way people deal with their emotions is just another thing that makes humans unique from one another. Some people cut as a result of sadness, some people cry, some people consult in violence. Cornwall seems to think that these things are nothing but coping mechanisms, and every copes in different ways for different situations. He thinks that forced medication and permanent residence in mental hospitals are violations of human rights. However, science has since proven that brain connections and hormone levels are off balance in people that have been diagnosed with depression, and that medication improves the hormone imbalances lessening the symptoms. People with this condition find it hard to function. They feel tired, sad, and pessimistic about almost everything in life. Science also proves that some people develop depression without any reason at all. They have great, happy lives and randomly develop depression. Science has linked this to several different factors. The size of the hippocampus part of the brain surprisingly contributes, as well as nerve cells in the brain. For example, some nerve receptors may be over sensitive or insensitive to a certain neurotransmitter, making the reaction to be excessive or inadequate. Antidepressants are designed to provide a balance of the receptors. A deficiency of certain vitamins are factors as well, like B12. Endocrine disorders can contribute as well, because the endocrine releases hormones and if the endocrine is not working properly, it can cause too little or too much of a certain hormone being released causing off balances in the body, leading up to depression. However, some people that are diagnosed with situational depression. In other words, a traumatic event has happened in their lives to cause them to get upset and they can no recover quickly enough, so they get trapped in their feelings of despair. In these cases, psychiatrists focus on the specific reason why someone has come to develop depression and find a way to train the patient’s brain to cope with the event that caused it as well as events in the future to prevent them from developing depression again.

Some people develop depression as a result of events like a major loss (death of a family member) or a traumatic event (being in a bad car accident.) When things like this happen to people, it is easier for them to recover from depression than those who develop it from biological causes. This is because most of the time these people learn to cope with it and move on after consulting with a counselor for several weeks. The role of a psychiatrist in these situations is to meet with the patient weekly to track their progress and analyze their change in mood to see if what they are doing is helping to reduce, and eventually eliminate, their depression. Psychiatrists are good at noticing when someone is lying or hiding their true feelings, so they are there to provide the proper care and medications if needed. Anxiety can also be a result of situational events. For example, someone who has been lied to by numerous people that they trusted could develop social anxiety. They are more likely to constantly think that no one is honest with them. Another example is male who was rapped or molested as a child, so they do not like people standing behind them. In these situations, counseling would most likely help with their anxiety more than medication would.

Psychiatry is more understanding with the way people respond to depression more than science is. Science would argue that the way that people react is a result of their genes or chemical balances in their brain, while psychiatry says that it is just the way a person deals with things. In fact, a study found a link between mental illness and smoking. The results showed that almost half of those who are diagnosed with depression smoke tobacco. Coming from someone who is currently dealing with depression, believe that this is because when someone is depressed or unhappy with their life, they are likely to do destructive things to their body, like smoking, drinking, cutting, and develop eating disorders. These things provide temporary relief to the person, which only worsens the next event, and since those who smoked after being diagnosed with depression have higher quitting rates than any other group, it only provides psychiatry with another reason to say that people's reactions to their depression is not science based.

Ultimately, science and psychiatry agree that depression can be a cause of biological factors like hormonal imbalances. They especially agree that those who commit homicide are mentally ill. However, science fails to agree with psychiatry when psychiatrists argue that some cases are strictly situational. They also disagree when it comes to treatment. Psychiatry thinks that a lot of healing starts with visiting a counselor and that most of the healing is a result of that while medications only aid in the process and acts almost as a placebo effect, while science thinks that you must start with what could be medically wrong and talking with a counselor or friend only helps somewhat with the healing process. So in conclusion, terms of depression between both fields are very similar, it is just the way that the patients are treated where there is differences. Both sides also agree that the brain is an extremely powerful organ and if someone thinks that one thing will help and another thing will not, they have to receive whatever treatment they believe will help or else they will never recover.

Works Cited:

Lasser, Karen, et al. "Smoking and mental illness: a population-based prevalence study." Jama 284.20 (2000): 2606-2610.

Foucault, Michel, and Hubert Dreyfus. "Mental illness and psychology." (2008).

Szasz, Thomas. Myth of mental illness. Vol. 15. New York, 1961.

Jorm, A. F. "Mental health literacy: Public knowledge and beliefs about." British Journal of Psychiatry 177 (2000): 396-401.

Dobson, Velma, and Bruce D. Sales. "The science of infanticide and mental illness." Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 6.4 (2000): 1098.

Horwitz, Allan V. Creating mental illness. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Cornwall, Michael. "I Don't Believe in Mental Illness, Do You? - Mad In America." Mad In America. N.p., 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/03/i-dont-believe-in-mental-illness-do-you/>.

An Aesthetical Analysis of Winter 1946

Andrew Wyeth was a regionalist painter who was born on July 12, 1917 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania to N.C. Wyeth and his wife, Carolyn Bockius Wyeth. Wyeth was the last of 5 children and was home-schooled due to having a bad hip and frequent mysterious illnesses. This meant that his only teacher was his father, N.C Wyeth. N.C Wyeth was a famous illustrator and illustrated great children’s classics such as Treasure Island and The last of the Mohicans. He took a large interest in his son’s education and taught him to draw before he taught him how to read. Wyeth worked as an illustrator under his father's name until he was in his teens and held a high regard for his father and other artists. Wyeth continued on in anonymity creating illustrations under his father’s name, something he did not have a passion, until his twenties. He then began painting watercolors that he described as “caricatures of nature.” Sadly, in October of 1945 his father and nephew, Newell Convers Wyeth II, age 3, were killed in an a car accident where they were struck by a train (Meryman). This jarring incident is stated by Wyeth to be the main factor as to what made him into the artist he became. Andrew Wyeth created Winter 1946 in his usual regional and realist style as a way to honor his father after his passing and to further convey his feelings through the subject, the title choice, and the color scheme.

Figure 1: Becky King Study, Example of Wyeth's early works

Wyeth is commonly associated with a combination of two styles: Regionalism and Realism. Regionalism, also known as American Scene Painting, is an art movement that occurred from the 1920s through the 1950s, reaching its height in prominence in the 1930s in the United States. During the 1930s, regionalist artists documented small towns and rural landscapes; some did so as a way to return to a simpler time away from industrialization while others wanted to make a political statement and lent their art to radical causes. Regionalism focused on rural scenes and rejected city life and modern industrialism (Regionalism). The main focus of these painting were mid-western architecture and figures. Regionalism gave the viewer a heartwarming view of the simple life in the rural United States (Regionalism).

Realism is described as a detailed and unaltered portrayal of contemporary life. Realism became a prominent movement in the 1800s. It was a response to Classicism and Romanticism. While those styles showed the lush, wealthy lives of nobility, realism showed the hard and “dirty” lives of the working classes (Realism). While Wyeth was often described as a realist painter he did not like this classification. He is quoted in an interview with Richard Meryman from Life magazine as saying “A lot of people say I’ve brought realism back- they try to tie me up with Eakins and Winslow Homer. To my mind, they are mistaken.” He did not, however, refute his classification as a regionalist artist.

Figure 2: Winter 1946, Focus piece of paper

Winter 1946, on the surface, is a very straightforward painting. It features a boy running down a hill with a minimal background of a fence. The boy is casting a long shadow, suggesting that is evening and has his hand outstretched like he is reaching out for something. The viewer knows that the setting is winter due to there being snow on the ground and the boy being dressed in a heavy jacket, boots, and a hat. On a basic level, the boy appears to be running home for dinner or from playing. However, when the painting is looked at on a deeper level and with a little knowledge of Wyeth’s life, the painting takes on a whole new meaning.

Wyeth often painted places that were close to him. He enjoyed painting the neighboring countryside that surrounded him in Chadds Ford and also in his summer home in Cushing's, Maine. The setting of this painting is the hill where the family tragedy of the deaths of his father and young nephew occurred. In the Life magazine interview, Wyeth revealed that the railroad tracks where his father and nephew died are just on the other side of the hill the boy is running down.The boy running away from the death is a physical representation of Wyeth emotionally running from his father’s death. Wyeth in a interview said that he was sick with guilt over not painting his father when he was alive and in an attempt to prove that he was a real artist like his father was, he painted Winter 1946 as a type of homage to his father.

While all of Wyeth’s later works use a similar color scheme, the muted colors present in Winter 1946 help to further express Wyeth’s emotions towards this painting. Since winter is often portrayed as a “grey” time, the palate used allows the viewer to understand that the painting is set in winter even without knowing the title of the piece. The painting also gives a hazy feeling to the viewer almost like the painting is being viewed through a cold fog.

  Until the death of Wyeth’s father in 1945, he was an aimless artist with a lot of potential and very little to show for it. Through Wyeth’s aesthetical choices of the painting, he presented himself as a person and his true abilities as an artist. Winter 1946 was his first attempt at “real” art as opposed to his earlier works in watercolor and was a vehicle for Wyeth to fully express his emotions over his father and nephew’s deaths. His guilt and anxiety over his father’s passing turned him into the artist.

The Impressionist Eye

Near the end of the 1800s, a few artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro, were ready to depart from the customary, traditional confines of painting. These men are known as the founders of the art movement called “Impressionism”. The artists abandoned the highly detailed art of the day, and began creating "rougher" pieces, aimed to portray the beauty of the moment rather than the intricacy of people.The Impressionism movement provided a new lens by which artists explored the world–a lens that decreased the influence of their own eye within their works and allowed more space for the viewer’s eye to discern the optical impressions of beauty. Monet achieved this new optical vantage point by striving to capture a specific, fleeting moment of time in his piece “The Cliff at Étretat, Sunset”, training his focus on the passing light and movement at the expense of form and details.

Though Monet is viewed as one of the fathers of this art style, a few artists came before him who also explored this rougher style of painting. In the life of Monet, a notable forerunner was Eugene Boudin. Boudin produced a painting entitled “Personnages sur la plage de Trouville” in 1865, about a decade before the formal dawn of Impressionism. During this time, Monet was creating caricatures like the one pictured below.


Graphite caricature of Henri Cassinelli by Monet

It is recorded that Boudin told Monet, “Come on, Claude — your caricatures are fun, but it's not real art, ...I mean art; I mean painting, Claude, painting!” (Stamberg). Boudin recognized the potential Monet possessed, and he pushed him to fully explore that potential. It was because of Boudin that Monet traveled to the Normandy coast and began to paint in an Impressionistic manner.


“The Cliff at Étretat, Sunset” by Monet

Once Monet fully embraced the Impressionist style, he quickly amassed a large volume of works. One of his favorite places to work was off the Normandy coast in the little village of Étretat. It is estimated that Monet produced 22 works there. One of his works, “The Cliff at Étretat, Sunset”, is shown above. Monet depicts the scene with quick, irregular strokes, as if he were trying to catch a momentary picture that the light of the setting sun produced. Writer M. Southgate describes the features saying, “...the orange sun, the hint of mauve in the evening sky, the carefully placed blues and greens of the water, the solidly built cliff with its graceful and distinctive arch carved from thousands of years, the wind-swept sky hinting at the morrow while reflecting the day just ending”(Southgate). These features took form through certain techniques, such as loose paint handling, various types of brushstrokes, and a color-rich palette, as well as painting wet-on-wet. Painting wet-on-wet proved necessary if the painter wished to complete the piece in one sitting. There are five key components that Impressionist painters strove to include in their pieces: to excel in depicting momentary scenes of beauty, to complete the entirety of their piece in the open air, to use only pure colors, to use small, rough brushstrokes, and to employ the strong power of light to finalize their piece.

A unique discovery was made concerning “The Cliff at Étretat, Sunset” in 2012. A group of astrophysicists journeyed to France in hopes of establishing the exact time of the painting. The low setting sun made this painting unique and served as a useful tool in their analysis. After finding Monet's exact vantage point and digitally recreating the sky from the 1880s, the team was able to conclude that the painting was completed on February 5, 1883 at 4:53 pm. Monet excelled in portraying a sense of time and place.

Much like his painting pictured above, Monet strayed away from including any strong religious or cultural influences within his works. His focus centered around capturing the purity of the natural elements. Because of his works and those of fellow Impressionist painters, society’s view on art began to change. Their unwillingness to conform to traditional styles blazed a new trail that allowed artists to express themselves creatively in original, unadulterated simplicity. Poet Jules Laforgue stated, "The Impressionist eye...is the most advanced eye in human evolution, that which up to now has seized upon and rendered the most complicated nuances known" (Impressionism). Impressionism pieces appear simplistic, yet they convey far more than what initially meets the eye.

The irony surrounding the “Impressionistic Eye” lies in the late year of Monet’s life. Trouble began for Monet in 1908, when his view of distant objects became fuzzy. From there, his condition only worsened, and in 1912, a doctor diagnosed him with bilateral nuclear cataracts. Too afraid to undergo surgery, Monet suffered through the following years. His unique eye, so long acclaimed as one that provided a new perspective of the world, was now failing him. In 1918, 10 years after his vision problems began, he is quoted saying, "I no longer perceived colors with the same intensity, I no longer painted light with the same accuracy. Reds appeared muddy to me, pinks insipid, and the lower tones escaped me. As for forms, they always appeared clear” (Steele). By the year 1922, Monet’s sight had progressed to near blindness. He finally agreed to undergo surgery by the hand of Paris ophthalmologist Charles Coutela. The following years brought Monet complications, along with aphakic glasses he had to wear to see. It took him a while to adjust, but through it all, Monet kept painting. His death came in 1926 after almost 60 years spent painting. The famous remark of fellow painter Paul Cezanne describes Monet and his work beautifully, "He was only an eye, but what an eye!" (Impressionism).


“Le Chateau Noir” by Cezanne in comparison to “Banks of the Seine, Vetheuil” by Monet

The 19th century Impressionist movement provided a new lens through which artists viewed the world. Artists like Monet sought to challenge old conventions and shifts art's focus away from detailed paintings such as still-lifes to a style more focused on capturing the essence of light and fleeting moments in time. This often leads the artist's eye to neglect many details in paintings, yet they still convey powerful aspects in their art: light, movement, texture, time, transiency. This quote says it in a succinct manner: "In [Impressionism’s] purest form it painted solely what the eye saw." The loss of details lets the viewers use their eyes to complete the picture–it gives the paintings multiple meaning. This new viewpoint has since shaped the direction of modern art.



Works Cited

Hurwitz, Laurie S. "The Well-Planned Spontaneity of Claude Monet." American Artist           03 1996:56. ProQuest. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.

“Impressionism: Origins, Influences.” Encyclopedia Of Art History. visual-arts-                    cork.com, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

Steele, Matthew, and J. Patrick O'Leary. "Monet's Cataract Surgery." The American              Surgeon 67.2 (2001): 196-8. ProQuest. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

Southgate, M. “The Cliff, Etretat, Sunset.” The Journal of the American Medical                Association 288.19 (2002): 2370. Print.

Walton, Kimberley. “Contrasting the Work of Cézanne and Monet: Two Unique Paths             To Modernism.” Empty Easel. Empty Easel, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016

Still Life: Expressing a Cultural Issue

North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC is home to many different cultural pieces of art; which include African, Jewish, Egyptian, and Italian art. It is also the first museum in the nation to purchase art with public funds (“Permanent Collection”). The museum holds many beautiful paintings and sculptures, however there was one piece by Beth Lipman that stood out to me. All of Lipman’s sculptures are made entirely of glass, with an exception of a wooden shelf or table. Her sculptures exhibit the still life culture, which is the arrangement of inanimate objects to represent a person or idea. She has exhibited her work as south at the Ringling Museum of Art in Florida, and as far north as the ICA/MECA in Maine,and even in other countries like the Gustavsbergs Konsthall in Sweden. Lipman’s art has also been purchased and kept in many museums including the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York (“About”). The piece of hers that resides in the North Carolina Museum of Art is titled “Bride.” Although Lipman never states what the sculpture represents, I believe that the purpose was to represent a bride who is marrying an abusive husband. The tiered structure was to imitate an American wedding cake. The way that the top tier is neat and put together while the bottom tier is messy and crowded, scattered with wild animals, represents that the surface of a marriage may look nice but inside it is really chaos. It is interesting that she constructed such a beautiful sculpture to represent a horrifying situation, and i believe that it was to give the abused brides to-be and wives, that something beautiful is awaiting them once they free themselves from their shackles.



The use of glass is a symbol in itself. It represents purity and perfection. I also noted that a lot of couples receive china as wedding gifts that most likely sit inside a cabinet collecting dust, however it is lovely to look at and admire. Weddings are the same in a way. They are expensive, elaborate, and a beautiful representation, but they are over in about two hours and while the wedding might be perfect, the marriage could be a disaster.

I also believe that the black stand is of some significance. Visually, I believe that it provides contrast against the clear glass. Symbolically, I believe that the black represents the darkness in an abusive relationship, specifically marriage, and the glass represents the good parts of it. The stand serves as the core of the sculpture while the glass is on the outside of the sculpture. This shows that when you look on the surface of a marriage it seems perfect, but the core of the relationship and what goes on behind closed doors could be dark, dangerous, and broken.



The picture above is of a traditional wedding cake, that of which Lipman wanted to model her sculpture after. The top tier of “Bride” is neat and put together nicely; as you move down the tiers, the organization of the glass gets messier. This is representing that a wedding and marriage may look perfect and in order on the surface, but the relationship could be messy and complicated, in this case dangerous. The reason why Lipman adds tiny wild animals to the base of the structure is to have them represent the severity of the situation, and to emphasize the damage an abusive relationship can cause just like an untamed, wild animal. This is why she adds them at the messiest part of the sculpture.



This picture is so incredible.  It shows the most amazing message that Lipman was trying to show in her sculpture. The portrait on the left shows a beautiful couple ready to get married. The second you look at them you feel excited and happy for them, starting a life together. Once you look at the portrait on the right, you are in horror and disbelief. Then you look back at the picture on the right and think, “But they look so happy and she doesn’t look like she’s in pain or afraid.” This is what Lipman is attempting to show through “Bride.”

Domestic violence is a serious problem. It affects all kinds of people; rich, poor, black, white, female, and even male. Many domestic violence reports are excused or denied, which makes it much harder for the victim to come forward. Most of the time, the victims need encouragement from friends and family in order to come forward and report their abuser. The problem with domestic violence is victim blaming and the traumatization the victim has to go through in the reporting process, so many events go unreported. One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. In two out of three female homicides, the killer was the female’s family member or intimate partner, and sixty perecent of domestic violence occurs inside the home.

I love that Lipman turned a depressing message into a beautiful sculpture. This is a lesson to be learned. Even if someone is in an abusive marriage, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and this is true for anyone who is going through a hard time not just abuse. I am a prime example. I am currently going through a hard time in my life and there are times when I think that nothing will ever get better when times are tough, but they will, and they do.

Works Cited:

Thaneeya. "Still Life Paintings and Drawings Explained." Art Is Fun. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016. <http://www.art-is-fun.com/still-life-paintings/>.

Schneider, Norbert. Still life. Taschen, 2003.

Phelps, Delmus. "Still Life Symbolism, Why Skulls, Books, and Candles in Still Life Oil Painting." Easy-oil-painting-techniques.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016. <http://www.easy-oil-painting-techniques.org/still-life-symbolism.html>.

"Permanent Collection." Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://ncartmuseum.org/art/overview/>.

"About." Beth Lipman. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://www.bethlipman.com/about/>.

"Domestic Violence and Abuse." : Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm>.

"Domestic Violence: Statistics & Facts." Safe Horizon. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <http://www.safehorizon.org/page/domestic-violence-statistics--facts-52.html>.

A Closer Look at Winter 1946

Regionalism, also known as American Scene Painting, is an art movement that occurred from the 1920s through the 1950s, with its height in the 1930s in the United States. Regionalism focused on rural scenes and rejected city life and modern industrialism (Regionalism). The main focus of these painting were mid-western architecture and figures. It gave the viewer a heartwarming view of the simple life in the rural United States (Regionalism). One of the main figures of this movement was Andrew Wyeth. Another influential painter of this time was the painter of American Gothic, Grant Wood. The main focus of the following works is mostly farm area with a poor twist to them. They are all inferring that the subjects portrayed are alone in this wide open space, giving the viewer the feeling that every man or woman must fend for themselves or that only the strongest survive.


 



Winter 1946 was painted by Andrew Wyeth with tempera on a board. This is the painting I chose from the NCMA’s collection. This piece is significant due to being based off of Wyeth’s father’s death. His father reportedly died on the other side of the hill featured in this work. The main subject in the painting was a neighbour of Wyeth named Allan Lynch (Meryman). This painting has very muted colors and a sense of loneliness. This feeling grows deeper when the viewer is made aware of the significance behind the work.




Christina’s World is a painting of a neighbour by Wyeth. Christina Olson was a neighbour who suffered from polio and spent most of her time at home thus giving the title of “Christina's World” (Meryman). She most likely felt very trapped on her property. This painting shows her on the edges looking towards her house. This represents her testing her limits as much as she can. This piece is another regionalist work with muted colors and gives the feeling of loneliness as it must have been for Christina, not being able to venture off of her property. This piece was done in tempera and gesso.




Turkey Pond is another Wyeth painting that continues the lonely theme and uses muted colors. It was made using tempera on panel. It features a man walking away in the distance with no other object to be seen. This indicates that he is on a mission of his own. He appears to be walking away towards nothing of importance signifying a journey into loneliness.




Floodplain is another work by Wyeth. It, unlike his other works does not have a person as the main subject. It instead uses a pile of hay and what appears to be scraps from an old building as its focus. It still uses muted colors and gives a sense of emptiness. It was done in tempera on panel. Most of Wyeth’s works feature a person as the main focus, however this one does not which gives a tone of emptiness which still follows suite with his other works.

American Gothic is regionalist painting done by Grant Wood. It features two people who are farmers, solidifying the regionalist element, these people look very over worked and lonesome similar to Wyeth’s recurring themes in his works. The couple is dressed in nice material but their facial expression and props explain the whole painting. Their faces look tired and faded from long days of work. The pitchfork shows that they still work today despite their age, but it isn’t so much a form of work as it is a way of life for them because that is how they were raised. American Gothic was done in oil on beaver board which is in contrast with Wyeth's common usage of tempera.



References

Meryman, Richard. "Andrew Wyeth." Life 14 May 1965: 93-114. Google Books. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

"Regionalism." Collections. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

A Closer Look at Brides

North Carolina Museum of Art is located in Raleigh, NC and is home to many different cultural pieces of art. Including African, Jewish, Egyptian, and Italian art. It is also the first museum in the nation to purchase art with public funds (“Permanent Collection”). The museum holds many beautiful paintings and sculptures, however there was one piece that stood out to me. It was one created by Beth Lipman, who is a sculptor who works with glass. Her sculptures exhibit the still life culture, which is the arrangement of inanimate objects to represent a person or idea. All of Lipman’s sculptures are made entirely of glass, with an exception of a wooden shelf or table. She has exhibited her work in the Ringling Museum of Art in Florida, ICA/MECA in Maine, RISD Museum in Rhode Island, the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wyoming, the Gustavsbergs Konsthall in Sweden, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. Lipman’s art has been purchased by many museums including the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, the Kemper Museum for Contemporary Art in Missouri, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, the Jewish Museum in New York, the Norton Museum of Art in Florida, and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York (“About”). The piece of hers that resides in the North Carolina Museum of Art is titled “Bride.” This paper will attempt to analyze the complex structure of “Bride” and try to make a connection and purpose of the piece.  The connection is between the sculpture and an American bride and the pressure to have a perfect wedding in order to have a perfect marriage.

https://www.tumblr.com/search/Beth-Lipman

The picture above is of Lipman’s sculpture, “Bride.” The structure is made of glass, paint, wood, and glue. The first thing I noticed was obviously all of the glass and that the shelf they were displayed on was tiered. I also noticed that the lower you go down the tiers, the more cluttered and messy the organization of the glass is. Also in that same pattern, the pieces of glass get bigger. There are also pieces of glass on the bottom tiers that are not only glasses, bowls, or plates, but tiny wild animals. I also noticed that the stand is black. I think this is primarily to provide contrast so that the glass can be seen easily.

http://www.123rf.com/photo_2761508_a-white-wedding-cake-with-three-levels-and-redroses.html

This is a picture of a traditional wedding cake. As you can see the cake is tiered just like the sculpture, which shows connection to its name, “Bride.” It is said that the wedding cake is often the centerpiece of the venue of the wedding. Many brides are judged for every aspect of their wedding, the main ones being the dress and the cake. I believe that Lipman made her structure so large because the wedding cake for a bride is one of the most crucial part of her big day. In fact there are many traditions associated with a wedding cake. For instance, they are traditionally white, symbolizing purity, which matches with the “Bride” structure. The glass is clear and colorless symbolizing perfection or purity.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/90072061273106415/

This is a picture of a traditional, American bride. A white dress, a big bouquet of flowers, and a white veil. So much emphasis has been put on these traditions that very few stray from them. This only adds pressure on the bride as she plans her wedding. She believes that everything must be perfect or her marriage will be a disaster. This contributes to “Bride” because if you notice, the top tier is neat and simple, while the bottom is messy and crowded. I believe that Lipman is trying to show us that the surface of things may look nice but the foundation may be in shambles. So the top tier of the sculpture represents a perfect wedding, while the bottom tier represents a messy and unloving relationship between the bride and groom. It is American culture that has put this curse on brides. The quality of a bride a groom’s relationship should no longer be judged on their wedding, but their love for eachother.




https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/post-impressionism/a/czanne-the-basket-of-apples

This is a still life oil painting by Paul Cezanne. He was a famous still life artists and tended to include food on a table in his paintings. The question that surrounds this painting is, “Will the apples roll of the table?” This is an example of how these inanimate objects can produce feelings of thoughts, ideas, and people in still life art. Like Cezanne’s painting, “The Basket of Apples”, Lipman’s “Bride” is a still life work that causes people to think about questions or ideas about it and wonder who or what is represents.


http://indulgy.com/kenn-.)/paper--sculpture

This is a piece done by Tahiti Pehrson. Like Lipman’s sculpture, this too is constructed in tiers. I also find Pehrson and Lipman very much alike because Lipman works with glass while Pehrson works with paper. I find it very interesting that they both chose to do a tiered structure. This sculpture also is more chaotic at the bottom and more neat at the top just like “Bride.” This is somewhat a still life sculpture but not entirely, since is it made out of paper and inanimate objects are cut out of them.


Works Cited:

"Permanent Collection." Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://ncartmuseum.org/art/overview/>.

"About." Beth Lipman. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://www.bethlipman.com/about/>.

McDonnell, Brandy. "Wednesday Video Spotlight: Beth Lipman's "Bride," Part of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's "Fusion" Glass Exhibit." NewsOK.com. N.p., 25 July 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://newsok.com/article/3831376>.

Schapiro, Meyer. "Czanne, Paul." WebMuseum: : Still Life with Basket of Apples. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/sl/basket-apples/>.

Analysis of Visual Contexts

Towards the end of the 1800s, the socially-correct art grounded in realism and perfection began to slowly be questioned by more avant-garde artists. A few artists of the time, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro, were ready for a departure from the customary still-lifes of the day. Instead, they choose to focus on evoking feelings through their works by using color and light. These men are known as the founders of the art movement coined Impressionism. This artistic style employs rough, quick brush strokes to achieve the goal of light and movement. Most often, these paintings are completed in the open air and many details are often forgotten, or perhaps overlooked, in order to capture the exactness of the moment of time. Impressionism paved the way for the avant-garde art forms that followed it, such as abstract and cubism. One of the founders of the Impressionism movement, Claude Monet, was a painter born in Paris, France. The following art pieces include four of his original works and one influencing work of a fellow painter, Eugene Boudin.




“The Cliff, Étretat, Sunset” by Claude Monet, 1882

Étretat is a small fishing village off of the Normandy coast of France and a popular spot among Impressionistic painters. Monet completed a series of works here, focusing on the unique rock structures protruding out from the coast. It is estimated that Monet produced 22 works from the landscape at Etretat. Monet’s piece speaks directly to the heart of impressionist painting. The brush strokes are rough, painted in quickly to capture the fleeting light. The shadows are created with colors, not just black. The water evokes feelings of movement and depth, along with elements of reflection. A unique discovery about this piece was made in 2012. A group of astrophysicists journeyed to France in hopes of establishing the exact time of Monet's painting. The low setting sun made this painting unique and served as a useful tool in their analysis. After finding Monet's exact vantage point and by digitally recreating the sky from the 1880s, the team was able to conclude that the painting was completed on February 5 at 4:53 pm.





“Personnages sur la plage de Trouville” by Eugene Boudin, 1865

Monet’s friend and fellow artist Eugene Boudin painted “Personnages sur la plage de Trouville” in 1865, about a decade before the formal dawn of Impressionism. He was one of the first artists to depict patrons relaxing at the beach, for around this time, fainting was a common ailment in Europe and many people were being sent to the coast to relax. Boudin recommended Monet take up Impressionism painting, especially paintings of nature and the coast. Monet was at the time a struggling artist fighting to gain acceptance within The Academy. It was because of Boudin that Monet traveled to the Normandy coast and began to paint in the Impressionistic manner. Boudin’s promptings succeeded in producing one of the most revered Impressionistic painters within the art community.





Graphite caricature of Henri Cassinelli by Claude Monet, 1858

Monet spent time in London making a name for himself by drawing charcoal caricatures. His friend and fellow artist, Eugene Boudin, felt he could produce so much more. It is recorded that Boudin said, “Come on, Claude — your caricatures are fun, but it's not real art,' ...'I mean art; I mean painting, Claude, painting!” (Stamberg). Boudin was right–Monet did have more to give, especially in the realm of painting. Once Monet fully committed to creating Impressionist work (after a short stint spent trying to create still-lifes), he quickly amassed hundreds of paintings, many of which were not accepted during his lifetime, but came to be valued years later.





“Women in the Garden” by Claude Monet, 1866

Monet was just a young painter at the age of 27 when he completed “Women in the Garden”. This piece includes four women, that of which his wife posed as a muse for all. Although very much a common-day still-life, a story line is missing from this painting. The art community was not impressed with Monet’s work and rejected it. This rejection, due to the lack of a story line and poorly executed academic art techniques, is speculated to be a reason why Monet took the opportunity to explore a new, unique type of painting. Monet had exhausted himself trying to conform to the stylistic conventions of the day. He was now ready to heed Boudin’s advice and venture out into the world of Impressionism.





“Impressionism, Sunrise” by Claude Monet, 1872

The fundamentals of impressionist art may have been established before the creation of “Impressionism, Sunrise”, but a name was not. This piece is where the name of this art form originated. This was one of the first pieces Monet completed and it was widely debated among the art community. Critics analyzed the short, crude brushstrokes and the bright, unblended colors. Many failed to appreciate this style of painting until years later. Modern art scholar Margaret Samu says, “Indeed, its life [impressionism] seems as fleeting as the light effects it sought to capture. Even so, Impressionism was a movement of enduring consequence, as its embrace of modernity made it the springboard for later avant-garde art in Europe.



Works Cited

Burks, Robin . “Physicist Figures out Exact Date and Time of Monet Painting.” Tech           Times . N.p., 6 Sept. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.                

        http://www.techtimes.com/articles/14953/20140906/physicist-places-exact-           date-and-time-on-monet-painting.htm


“Permanent Collection .” North Carolina Museum of Art . NCMA, n.d. Web. 29 Mar.         2016. http://ncartmuseum.org/art/detail/the_cliff_tretat_sunset



Stamberg, Susan . “Eugene Boudin: The Man Who Inspired Monet.” npr. npr, 1 July           2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?               storyId=128174560


“Women in the Garden (1866-7).” Encyclopedia of Art Education . N.p., n.d. Web.            29 Mar. 2016. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/women-in-          the-garden.htm