Horace Pippin, "Interior", 1944, oil on canvass
Jacob Lawrence, "Street on Mbari", 1964, tempura on woven paper
Art 101: Final Exam
The introduction to art has been one of the most fulfilling, yet challenging human subjects that, I have ever been exposed to. However, my initial thought about artwork was boring, yet curious, while combined with a slight touch of imagination. I began to see art in another setting after the class visit to the National Gallery of Art. My thoughts soon became my vision and the need to understand it, which further grew into the need to master it. It was those thoughts about art that helped me to decide on Horace Pippin, “Interior”, oil on canvass, 1944, as well as Jacob Lawrence picture “Street on Mbari”, 1964, tempura on woven paper. Both of these creations were done in the New York and Pennsylvania, area during the same time era as Post-Modern and shared the same visions of life and hope for all African American artists, during the Harlem Renaissance movement that started around the 1920’s (PP). Creating the compelling images both Pippin and Lawrence dreamt of was one way to promote freedom of expression, while sharing their most intimate experiences with the world. However, Pippin, style was more intimate than Lawrence’s canvass and showed family orientates by the characters and their individual places in the canvass, opposed to Lawrence’s canvass showing an entire culture of people in an African setting (Getlein, 34). Both artists express their individual style of work by different approaches, Pippin, uses Realism, while Lawrence uses Cubism (Getlein, 508). The style Romanticism is also featured in both canvasses, by the richness of colors and emotion (Getlein, 507).
Both pieces represent the African American culture in the past and future tense by the artistic approach they took. Neither artist had any formal art training and had to teach themselves, not only how to use colors, but techniques, styles, and basic fundamentals of painting as well, which lead them to be considered as folk artist (Online Source: artcyclopedia). The pieces were created at a time, where freedom and the right to creatively express themselves through their work were not always an option; however, they wanted to prove to society, that regardless of skin color, their work told a story, then that story became apart of history. As luck would have it now, both pieces were surrounded with poverty, real life situations, family, and the aftermath of war (Online Source: findarticles). Horace Pippin’s picture, suggests through the title that “Interior”, was surrounding the inside of the house and what each individuals character did. This canvass identifies so many social economic issues like, the cracks in the walls, the children reading and playing by candlelight, and the stove remaining open for warmth. The theme that both artists use is Looking Inward: the Human Experience. This theme is surrounded with human experiences and the different insights and outlooks, we as humans share (Getlein, 69). In, “Interior”, the human experience is the social interaction with the family, as well as the identifiable items in the canvass, that anyone living with a lower social-economics status could best identify with. The subjects of “Street on Mbari”, show social interaction by their culture and the migration of people to one are to share the common goods of the land.
The design principles used by both of the artist are defined by their shapes and colors (Getlein, 93- 121). Pippin used primary and secondary colors, of reds, whites, and greens to immediately bring the focal point to his images and characters (Getlein, 94) Horace Pippin draws the viewer’s attention to the center of the canvass by placing the child on the floor and the other characters images on both sides. The viewer has to look at all angles of the art work to receive the full affect and emphasis on the closeness of the family (Getlein, 134). Pippin, expressed his social and limited educational skills to paint the pictures of his memories. The painted wooden floor in this canvass was a brilliant way of making the floor look worn, old, and cracked. It gives the observer a chance to see the history in this canvass with flat shapes and painted straight lines (Online Source: n-sane).However, on Jacob Lawrence’s canvass “Street on Mbari”, he uses analogous colors like gold, orange, and browns to create different skin tones on his characters (Getlein, 97). He also uses small areas of white that could be from gesso (Getlein, 172). Both pieces of art seem to be symmetrical balance because of the same amounts or images on both sides of the art work (Getlein, 125). Horace Pippin gently shared his memories with any viewer by creating visible life through the history of his painting, while Jacob Lawrence’s canvass shared his visits to Mbari Street with us, by keeping it alive and refreshing with the art techniques and colors used.
Most observers can look at any canvass to see the mood or setting that it portrays. But, when the canvass has some images in it that they can best identify with, it usually takes that person back to that time in history. That is what Pippin and Lawrence, both shares with their viewers. They offer humanity by painting the images that they experienced during their personal struggles in society. Their social interaction with their art work will allow the observer to feel what they felt, when the canvass was under production. Horace Pippin created intimate interior experiences and Jacob Lawrence shared the social perspective of African Americans living in a village or tribe in Africa. However, both artists were able to create the highs and lows of African Americans through their immediate place settings and their still images. Pippin’s mood appeared to be contemporary, yet physically expressive of his childhood struggles, while Lawrence’s mood was bright and exciting. Jacob Lawrence almost expressed a community event or harmonious ceremony in which all of the town’s people get together for a celebration. Horace Pippin and Jacob Lawrence did not share the same mood in these pictures due to the individual negative experiences both artists harbored.
Mediums are considered to be the materials from which a work of art is made (Getlein, 168). However, both canvass productions have different mediums. Horace Pippin used oil on canvass medium that was consistent with that of pigment compound (Getlein, 172). Pippin, used oil colors that were easy to apply, due to the limited usage of his hands so he chose to use oil paint because it made the images larger after the canvass finally dried (Freeman interview). He incorporated bright and dark colors to express his social and limited educational skills to paint the pictures of his memories. Horace Pippin used gray colored walls in contrast to the snow on the window pane gave the background a glazed look with the white gently detailed in certain areas (Getlein, 175). Contrast to Horace medium style, Jacob Lawrence used tempura on woven paper as his medium (Getlein, 171). Lawrence created his culture, identity, and social interactions by incorporating the visual arts and history to express his struggles. While doing so, he used the color of black to express his characters and their culture, while using gold as the color of the land. The rough colors of red and blue were used to make a statement involving the African village symbols. But, Lawrence further felt that the usage of tempura gave his work a “raw, sharp, and rough” effect by painting clear images (Getlein, 172). The warm and neutral colors on the roofs of the individual huts in this canvass were smooth and of different lengths that most likely resemble the images of his visit to a street like Mbari.
Both paintings are very realistic because we still live in the time period of poverty and social injustice of people and their surroundings. Horace Pippin used a more intimate style than that of Jacob Lawrence (Getlein, 34). However, it also expresses realism, by the symbols of poverty and the quality of life issues the canvass expressed (Getlein, 508). The most amazing thing, I can best identify with is the naturalistic images that he created, which is the same images in some of the households of today (Getlein, 29). Jacob Lawrence’s art work is different than that of Horace Pippin because, Lawrence used bold and empowering colors that expressed his characters rich mess and romanticism (Getlein, 507). He also used different shapes, sizes, and images while, Pippin had limited forms of expression (Getlein, 36). Because both artists were African Americans, they wanted to share their paintings with the world to create a subject matter that would later become important to African Americans, but the entire world as well (Getlein, 36).
In conclusion, both artists share their different human experiences with the world. Horace Pippin shared his experience of serving in the World War I and coming home with limited usages of his limps, while further experiencing poverty first handily. He further shared the intimate experiences of his childhood and upbringing during a time when African Americans were not afforded the right or privilege of becoming an artist with a purpose in life. Pippin wanted to make a difference in the art world by also becoming one of many “folk” artists and extending his visions, experiences, and creative imaginations to the art world as well as history. The artist Jacob Lawrence also shares his human experience with the world; however, he shares it with formal arts training. He was afforded the opportunity of attending Harlem Art Workshop, located in Harlem, New York, where he left his impression in life. After meeting several different artists during the Harlem Renaissance era, he further felt that he had much more to offer the world than just painting a person or image. Lawrence wanted to share the emotional attributes of people and their surroundings. However, both artists were able to pass on their amazing techniques of making art, but the appreciation of art also. Horace Pippin and Jacob Lawrence, both tell the stories of poverty, struggles, and their cultural experiences by sharing their timeless art pieces and strong emotions with the world.
Works Cited
Brew, Charl, A. “Movement & Styles”. Introduction to Art 10. Prince Georges’s Community College, Summer Semester. 2007
Freeman, Rik. “Artist”. Personal Interview. 100 42nd St N.E. June 20, 2007. 10:15 am
Getlein, Mark. Living with Art. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2005
Hartigan, Linda, R. “Horace Pippins-American universe Cover story”. 1994.
www.findarticles.com. 08-03-2007.
Malyon, John. “Cubism”. www.artcyclopedia.com./history/cubism/html. 08-03-2007
www.n-sane.net/. 08-01-2007
