RETURN FROM THE MARKET-ANDRE FOUGERON

         Andre Fougeron paints a well dressed lady wearing a gray overcoat and face covered in makeup. You would expect her hair to fly off everywhere after coming from market but not even one strand is out of place. She is seen holding a loaf of bread in her right hand while her left hovers over some change.She is surrounded by en number of objects.For instance,the grocery bag sitting besides her leg is filled with spring onions and wine with a can of milk next to it. On the table to the right lain with pale blue,red and yellow coloured checked table cloth,unfolded clothes accompanied with a book and a pair of scissors lie untouched.On the pale yellow wall behind the table, clothes are hanged and to the left you are greeted by the wondrous sight of kitchen sink piled on with pots and pans eager to be cleaned.Red hexagonal tiles cover the floor. The dull colours seem to almost give a vibe of mundane lifestyle but the stark red complements it, thus brings in life to the picture.

            After doing thorough research I have come to believe that 1* the lady in the picture is none other than Andre Fougeron's wife Henriette Fougeron sitting in the kitchen of their home in Montrouge,considered to be a working class district of Paris. Fougeron painted it in 1950s not long after the war ended when France was still recovering from the repercussions of the world war. Majority of the population was barely floating in the deep waters of poverty and depression. In order to survive the great depression many plans were introduced.2* Rationing of bread was one of them, apartment blocks for low income households on city outskirts and suburbs were built. Looking at the above two factors it is apparent that getting things as simple as a loaf  of bread was considered a novelty.It explains why she is cradling the bread in her arms and also her almost possessive hand over the money. Even though of working class the wounds of war had come back to prick people in the form of poverty.

              Henriette looks lifeless there is a hollowness present in her dark eyes.She has positioned her legs in such a manner that it looks like she is about to run a marathon,also she is not completely reclining on the chair,it suggests that she is anxious to finish her work. Maybe juggling both work and home had taken a toll on her life, the monotony and hardships of their life must have culminated into a dull life and just maybe this in turn damaged their relationship which would explain the lack of happiness in her eyes.

       REFERENCES       

1*   TATE. Return from the market 1953 .[Online] Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/fougeron-return-from-the-market-t07705

[Accessed : 8th august,2015]

                                                                                          

2*OccupiedFrance .rationing of food and supplies . [Online] Available from:http://occupiedfrance.wikispaces.com/Rationing+of+Food+%26+Supplies

[Accessed: 8th august 2015]

                                 

THE KILL

*1

On the rocky terrain,lurks a beast

while the others wait for a feast

the beast walks,not knowing what's coming

the animals wait, for it is to start running

the beast gains speed

the animals ready to feed

the sepia theme shows the aggression

my sleepy state is causing a depression

they gain on the beast

finally,its their time to feed

now we're blank

so we'll be frank

think of something

or we'll hit you with a plank

REVIEW 

          looking at the painting the first thing that came to mind was migration.Having lived in the wild such a phenomenon must be common.After much thinking we decided to work with following words migration,morning,ancient,sepia,mountains,aggressive and hunting. We came up with a story after clubbing different ideas together and then structured it into a poem.
           Reading the poem again and again and comparing it to the picture it doesn't seem to fit quite well since there is no alpha animal in sight the only possibility is that they are running from a predator,predator being humans or carnivores.A girl mentioned in class that you can't predict what happened before and after the image,i disagree since the picture is in motion itself it should have frames as opposing to a still life or a portrait .The fourth and sixth stanza has a funny tune to it which makes it unique from the cliche story of hunting.The more i stare at the painting i see human faces even though its just texture of the wall creating it. Notice the mysterious spots on the animals body? *2 In Nigel Spivey's documentary on more human than human you find out the mystery behind the random spots appearing on the animals body and two dimensional images.

  
                                              REFERENCES

1* RED ICE CREATIONS. (2000-2001) Lascaux cave art [online] Available form: http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=7331
[Accessed:10th august 2015]

2* How art made the world 2-The day pictures were born (19th april 2013) BBC documentary film. Presented by Nigel Spivey [online] Available from: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO6ay9eueR4

ART ENTHUSIAST

         Sister Wendy showed keen interest in art history and later in 1980 went on to pursue it.Works of Jackson Pollock,Willem  de kooning,Mark Rothko,to name a few held her spellbound.The story behind every brush stroke piqued her curiosity.She wanted to know everything that there was to know about their life,which is quite evident from her childlike enthusiasm.Though she claims of not having a creative bone,she sure doesn't miss to spot a beautiful painting.So hop on whilst Sister Wendy takes us through the journey of different art periods.

           First in line is Jackson Pollock.He speaks through colours and the flow of the lines.Most of his art work centers around drip painting.The reason why he refuses to paint using a brush is because of his dislike to keep the strokes in check. He lets out all his frustrations and deep angst in those strokes,and drip painting enables him to do so instead of mapping them out with a brush,but at the same time having control over the strokes to create the right picture.The process of painting was something personal to Jackson but when it was documented he might have felt naked in front of the entire world since the only close thing to him was yanked away not to mention the pressure of constant need to keep up his reputation to meet peoples expectations might have driven him to complete madness resulting in dark drawings and ultimately death.

        Sister Wendy describes pop art as something which an artist sees or does but not feels and in turn incorporates it into an art work.To me art is centered around the artist's life,it expresses what he or she feels,so to say pop art lacks emotion is a contradiction.In Andy Warhol's depiction of Marilyn Monroe,from afar every frame or chapter of Marilyn's life looks normal but if you look closely its anything but dazzling. The expressions are contrasting in every frame as if portraying her journey through life,but being in the public eye she has to put on a different persona.First frames have colours to it but as we move forward all the life is drained out of her and nothing but a faded photograph is left.

        Minimalism is a challenge since our minds are always immersed in chaos. To convey a message or even express through a few lines,colours needs discipline.Agnes martin painted the feeling of being in nature and not nature itself  the painting was pleasant to look at, it created a feeling of calmness. The light pastel colour the smoothness of texture and the geometry of lines could construct something so simple but still visually appealing is mesmerizing.Nature if we look at it is very vibrant but Agnes hit a home run in capturing the peacefulness of being in nature.

       Sister Wendy was able to analyze said artists work since she studied about their life in depth, questions of 'whys' and 'hows' dissolved because of her knowledge.It's a wonder how she manages to notice minute details. when you see a picture, the shapes that catch your attention are different for everyone,the colours bring you happiness,grief or any possible emotion or just suck you into the picture. Sister Wendy urges us to notice these minute things,the brush strokes, drip of the paint, that invoke emotions within us possibly unknown to us but still present which in turn leads us to appriciate a painting. Thus proving that an amature can have a certain understanding of art as well, even with lack of any artistic background. 

         Throughout the documentary she urges people to look at paintings more closely,to inspect every stroke, material, colour, small details that we almost miss to notice. She is a living proof that amatures can too appreciate paintings and that they don't need a certificate to understand art.Being a nun herself she doesn't shy away from paintings which normally would have been condemned in church more so her open minded attitude gives hope to bridge the gap between religion and art.

                                                            REFERENCE

Sister wendy. ( Jan 13, 2015) Documentary film. [online] Youtube. Available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFO3_Vj817A

[Accessed: 7th august,2015]