Vincent Van Gogh

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It might be hard to imagine a man that cut off part of his ear and spent part of his life in an insane asylum could be an intellectual artist that spoke his mind through his paintings. No matter how ridiculous it may sound Vincent van Gogh was a very thoughtful and erudite artist. In between fits of madness Van Gogh would have moments of lucidity where his thoughts and feelings would be portrayed through his art and his intelligence would shine. Newly found letters reveal that Van Gogh was a highly intelligent and rational man that merely got lost in his work and in his thoughts. In the article “Van Gogh’s Letter. The Artist Speaks” Rachel Esner argues that Van Gogh was a very intellectual man contrary to popular belief based on the new exhibition that displays different levels of the artist’s works and his letters.

         The article by Esner basically goes through the progression of the exhibition for Van Gogh’s works at the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. She explains first the entrance or the introduction to the exhibit. When first entering the exhibition you first view Van Gogh’s various works and simple quotations displayed on the wall that project the underlying themes of each of his paintings.  It starts out laying down the themes of all his works with a few examples of how he agonized his thoughts around color, artistic identity, family, and the countryside. Each painting on the first floor of the exhibit is supposed to exemplify a point in Van Gogh’s life and represent his thoughts, feelings, and emotions at the time that the painting was created. The exhibit was designed in order for the viewer to process the painting as purely as possible so that the soul and meaning of the painting could be identified as easily as possible. The fact that there is such meaning behind each of the works displayed shows that Van Gogh was a truly intellectual and erudite thinker.

         In the next couple of rooms of the exhibit the curators, according to Esner, begin to reveal the letter that Van Gogh scribed during the time of his paintings. These letters add another level to the astuteness of the artist’s work. Through the letters we can see exactly what Van Gogh was thinking during each of the paintings that he created. The letters revel his higher and more emotional thought. He truly contemplated every aspect of his paintings and scrutinized over what he wanted them to portray. Esner states that this progression in learning about the thoughts and feeling of Van Gogh helps one to understand the meaning of his works. The letters show that Van Gogh was not just some crazy psychopath, but a thoughtful intelligent man who wanted to paint his soul on a canvas. He was extremely well read and the letters show that he was a conscientious rational and connected artist.

         On the final floor of the exhibit things become a little less charming according to Esner as compared to the previous floors of the exhibition. The viewer becomes acquainted on the last floor with the idea that Van Gogh wanted to reach out to a lot of people with the themes of his paintings. On the final floor there are a plethora of articles about Van Gogh and his outreach and how he wanted to present things to magazines and get more involved with the commercial side of painting and art. The displays on the final level show how at the beginning of his career Van Gogh was in fact interested in spreading his ideas out to everyone and getting involved commercially. However, towards the end of his career as seem with the previous two floors of the exhibit Van Gogh tried to focus more on his inner feelings and getting those across to the viewers of his paintings. All of this once again shows how erudite and thoughtful Van Gogh was during the course of his life as an artist. He thought about important things in life and he expressed his view through his paintings. Van Gogh was not just some crazy madman.

         Esner ends her argument of how intellectual Van Gogh was by asserting that in order to understand Van Gogh’s brilliance one must look at the letters and the paintings that he created over his lifetime, and connect their meanings in order to understand the message Van Gogh wanted to portray. Esner concludes that in order to fully understand Van Gogh artistic way we must look at every aspect of his life and combine them to create his meaning. She also concludes that the Vincent Van Gogh Museum is now not only one of paintings, but one of letters as well.

        

     

         Work Cited

Esner, Rachel. "Van Gogh's Letter. The Artist Speaks." Nineteenth Century Art Worldwide 9.1 (2010). Art Full Text. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

"Edward Hopper's Maine"

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            Edward Hopper has always been known as one of the great American painters. He is known to be a painter that inspired many others to make their own work, and his influence is often readily portrayed in the works of other famous painters. His most famous painting, Nighthawks, is easily among the list of common paintings that even people uninterested with art are familiar with. During his time in Maine, Hopper did a series of paintings that have come to be known as his Maine works. This is the subject of both the Bowdoin College Museum of Art’s exhibit and the article, “Edward Hopper’s Maine” by Carl Little. In the article, Little points out that the exhibit contains the largest compilation of Hopper’s paintings of Maine ever displayed under the same roof, that Hopper’s Maine works matured him as an artist, and other artists used these works in particular to base their own work off of and be inspired.

            The Bowdoin College Museum of Art, where the exhibit is located, is of course found within the heart of the state of Maine. It cannot be said for sure why Hopper chose Maine to be the subject of an entire body of his paintings, but Maine is not a rare subject to be found in paintings. Many artists both before and after Hopper would find inspiration in the beauty of the state. Hopper’s Maine pieces focus on rough angles of cliffs and especially the lighthouses. For lighthouse enthusiasts, there is nothing more beautiful than the captured essence of the sea contained within one of these paintings. The exhibit contains more than just the lighthouses, however, including a startling “forty-two paintings and fifty-eight watercolors” (Little). In the article, Little claims that Hopper’s Maine style is best exemplified by Captain Upton’s House, a piece that was graciously lent to the show by the actor Steve Martin (Little). The piece is remarkably beautiful and does portray Hopper’s use of realism, a quality of his paintings for which he is known.

            Little states in the article how this body of work also led to Hopper’s evolution “from a student of Robert Henri to a master watercolorist and painter of American icons” (Little). The transition from student to master painter is not always an easy one to make for artists. However, the Maine paintings portray how Hopper listened to his teacher and used his advice to better his work. Henri always told Hopper “to make the brushstroke palpable”, and that’s exactly what Hopper did (Little). In the over seventy-two pieces collected for the exhibit, the brushstrokes are clearly part of the standout effect of Hopper’s paintings. Though most of the landscapes and lighthouses look nearly real, Hopper made sure to make use of his teacher’s advice and realize that all art should not be perfect. Realism can in fact contain bits of imperfect art within the painting. So this collection of work marks Hopper’s true understanding of the wisdom of Henri, and his evolution into a master painter.

            Since he had become a master painter, other painters were of course inspired by his work. Artists started using his defined brushstrokes as well as using Maine as the subject of their paintings. Artists such as Marsden Hartley, who painted the boulders of Maine, looked to Hopper for the proper way to paint the landscape (Little). Stow Wengenroth, as Little states in the article, found subject in Maine for his paintings that Little only hopes that Hopper could have found. Though Hopper’s Maine works seem to be thorough, there are still landscapes and landmarks that would have been simply outstanding if painted by the hand of Edward Hopper.

            Edward Hopper was a realist, American painter that spent much of his later years in Maine. He painted the landscapes and the lighthouses, using large brushstrokes to separate himself as more of a semi-realist. This body of work led to his personal growth as an artist, due to finally following the advice of his teacher Robert Henri. Hopper’s paintings then affected the works of others both in style and location. Edward Hopper will forever be known by his Maine works, but more importantly he was a realist.

Little, Carl. “Edward Hopper’s Maine.” Art N England 32 (2011): 61. Web. 21 Nov.

2011.

Number One

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This year, Raleigh, North Carolina was ranked the number one place to live in Businessweek.com’s Best Cities rankings.  With the right combination of wealth of culture, entertainment, good schools, low crime, and green space, Raleigh beat out the likes of Las Angeles and New York to become the place to be.  Living in Raleigh my whole life, I was not surprised to hear that.  Raleigh is a great place to grow up, and I cherish many of my favorite memories in various places in Raleigh.  Not only is Raleigh special to me, but also it is special to my whole family.  In order to fully understand what makes Raleigh so important me, you have to know how much Raleigh as affected the growth and development of my family.

Not only does Raleigh play an important role in my immediate family, but also to my extended family.  My grandfather was born about an hour away from Raleigh, in a small town called Norlina.  However, when he went to college he chose to go to North Carolina State University, which is in Raleigh.  He became a huge supporter of the school and went to many of the social and athletic events even after he graduated, moved back to Norlina, and had children.  These children, my mother and two uncles, grew up going to Raleigh all the time.  My mom always said it was a huge deal to go to Raleigh, and there was always much excitement surrounding their visits. 

All three of my grandfather’s kids fell in love with Raleigh, and decided to attend school there.  Both of my uncles attended N.C. State University, while my mother attended Meredith College, a women’s college right down the road from N.C. State.  While at Meredith, my mom met my dad, who at the time went to North Carolina State.  My dad, who was from Charlotte, also could not resist all that Raleigh had to offer and decided to go to school there.  Raleigh was where both of my parent’s received their educations, as well as where they decided to get married.  Raleigh is the birthplace of my immediate family.

            Once my parents were married, my father got a job in Florida.  While they were reluctant to leave, they said they would eventually come back.  And once they decided to have kids, they did just that.  A year before my older sister was born, they moved back to Raleigh, where my dad started his own company.  Both my sisters and I were all born in Rex Hospital, which is located in Raleigh.  My parent’s career, as well as their family, began in Raleigh. 

            As I grew up in Raleigh, the only time we moved was to another house in the same city.  My parents would not leave, as they knew there was no better place to raise their kids.  Many kids grow up and want to leave the place that they are from, and go far away.   This was not what I felt, however.  So many childhood memories take place in Raleigh, including my schools, neighborhoods, and friendships.  Going to the State games with grandparents, uncles, and cousins was something we all bonded over and something I will always cherish.  When the time did come to choose where to go to college, I knew that I could not go far.

Raleigh always had so much to offer me growing up.  From the countless days going to the countless parks, the numerous museums and other entertainment downtown, to the athletic events, to the fantastic schools, I had the best experience a kid could ask for.  The amount of crime was so low, that I was never affected by it, and always felt safe wherever I went.  Raleigh is a big enough city that I feel like I met a lot of different people from a lot of different walks of life.  However, it was small enough that it had that small, Southern town feeling that was as welcoming and comfortable as a place could be. 

            

           

"The Office"

           On the way to the beach one summer when I was little, we passed the exit off the highway for Manteo, North Carolina, a small town near Beaufort, our destination. My father then proceeded to tell me that there was an elderly woman who came all the way from that little town just to get her teeth cleaned every six months. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Ms. Fran Grant was so loyal to my father as a dentist that she refused to find one closer to her home. Not only did she travel approximately three hours for a dentist appointment, something most people would not even travel ten minutes for, but also she never failed to bring her delicious, homemade shortbread cookies for my father and his staff to enjoy. As per usual, my father would then bring the cookies home for our family to enjoy, so I grew up on Fran’s cookies around Christmastime. She passed away recently, but I will never forget her intense loyalty and delicious baked goods. It was so difficult when I first heard of this lady for me to understand why she would continue her enrollment as a patient in the practice, but I soon grew to comprehend the rich history of the dental office, the place it serves in the town, and why the patients keep coming back.

My grandfather moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina with his job when my father was already in college, but my dad spent summers there when he came home from school. After he graduated from dental school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he began to search for a job. This is when he stumbled upon a small practice located within the heart of downtown.

The practice had opened in 1972 when Dr. Underwood decided to start his business in the small town of Wake Forest. From the outside, the building might not look like very much. It certainly does not resemble the modern day double story office buildings that have become prevalent in most large cities. The office is small, one story, and at times, certainly looks like it could use a paint job, but it does its best to blend in to the small-town charm that is Wake Forest. In 1984, my dad began working in the office as one of the dentists in addition to another one named Dr. Dearstyne. When Dr. Underwood decided that he had had enough of dentistry for a while, he decided to sell his practice. At this point, my dad and Dr. Dearstyne became partners, buying the office and the practice from Dr. Underwood. Eventually, Dr. Dearstyne developed back problems, a problem most dentists must eventually face, and was forced to stop working. My father then became the sole owner of the practice and his own boss.

            For me, my dad’s office has always been a pivotal part of my life, as well as a pivotal part of the town of Wake Forest. Growing up, my brother and I always called it “the office”, not dad’s office, not the dentist’s office, just “the office”. My dad always joked that it was “the best little place to work in the world”, and I always believed him. What could be better than being the boss of everyone and doing something you loved? People originally from Wake Forest always know my dad’s practice. When I was little and to this day, I was often introduced as Dr. Upton’s daughter. Often it seems that we cannot even make a trip to the grocery store without seeing one of my dad’s patients. In this way, I think my dad’s dental practice plays a fundamental role in the town of Wake Forest, connecting my family and I to our small town. I can relate to the patients who say how great of a dentist he is because I am included in that list. His practice has always been the first one in Wake Forest, so the patients just keep coming back.

            My dad’s patients are so loyal because he essentially does everything right when it comes to being a doctor. Being a small town doctor, he really knows every single patient in his file room. He can tell you who their children are, where they live, and how their grandkids are doing; it’s that kind of a small-town practice. When you walk in, the receptionists, Susan and Joy, two ladies that have seen me grow up through the years, don’t just tell you to have a seat and the doctor will be right with you, but instead take a moment to chat and ask how things are going. The town of Wake Forest gets a great reputation because of establishments like my father’s and in turn, my family is rewarded with a good reputation because of his work. The people of Wake Forest know that my dad really cares and loves what he does, so they have no problem driving three hours to get to their appointment, for instance, because they wouldn’t go anywhere else.

            People from Wake Forest know my family because they know my father. He has been their dentist, their children’s dentist, and now maybe even their grandchildren’s dentist. He sees his patients outside of his practice and actually knows each one if them personally, and for that, I believe he is worth coming back to. The town of Wake Forest would not be the same without the quality service of an historical dental practice, and my family would never be the same if we could not go to “the office” every once in a while.    

           

            

Civil Rights Impact

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Imagine living in a world where blacks and whites do not attend the same schools, do not ride the bus next to each other, and do not share the same bathrooms. It would be a world of segregation and great inequality, but fortunately the Civil Rights movement occurred and segregation was abolished. The Greensboro sit-ins led to the Civil Rights movement, which in turn led to more equality for African Americans. If it had not been for the Greensboro sit-ins and the proceeding Civil Rights movement, then segregation might not have happened, my family might not have moved to Greensboro, and many people from the North might not have moved south including my family.

            The fact that the Greensboro Sit-ins occurred was a major win for the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. When the four young men decided to demand equality from Woolworth’s cafe they started the nationalization of a movement that would forever change the course of United States history. The sit-ins as a major event in civil rights history created other African American movements and transcended the civil rights movement from a local affair to a strong force in the national sphere. This event led to a stronger Civil Rights movement and in turn the movement led to desegregation and more rights for blacks. If this had not happened then it might be possible that there would still be segregation and inequality between whites and African Americans.

            If the Civil Rights movement had not occurred in America and segregation had remained in tact in schools and public places, then it is probable that my family might not have moved to Greensboro. My mother is from Cleveland, Ohio and my father is from Buffalo, New York. Therefore if segregation had not stopped in the South my father might not have moved my family down to Greensboro. My father is a podiatrist and in the 1980s he needed to complete his residency and one of the only ones he could find in Greensboro, North Carolina. If the South had still been segregated who knows if he would have received or even taken a residency from a practice somewhere in the south such as Greensboro. If segregation had not occurred then I might not have grown up in Greensboro, I would not have been exposed to the University of North Carolina, and possibly not ended up in this class writing this essay. The Civil Rights movement changed the course of history and ended up indirectly changing my life.

            If it had not been for the Greensboro sit-ins not only my family would have been affected, but also many other families that live all across the nation especially in the North. Like my family, other families that lived in the North might not have migrated south, if it had not been for desegregation and the Civil Rights movement. Many families including my own have moved from the North to Greensboro, especially from upstate New York. If segregation had not occurred these families would not have moved and the population of Greensboro, NC would be radically different. The Civil Rights movement has changed a lot of things and has drastically changed the course of history and the way the white and African Americans interact with each other and within the world.

            The Greensboro sit-ins caused the desegregation of the south, which provided a smooth transition of families including my own from the North to the formerly segregated South. The Civil Rights Movement was a major event in United States history and because of the spark of the sit-ins the nation has been completely transformed.  Many things have changed over the years and this story shows how a small incident that occurs in history has the possibility of drastically changing the world.

           

Works Cited

Kowal, Rebekah J. "Staging the Greensboro Sit-Ins." TDR 48.4 (2004): 135-54. JSTOR. The MIT Press. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. 

The City of Raleigh

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            During colonial times, cities would spring up all over the place in the thirteen original colonies.  Most of the time, these cities just happened as a result of a lot of people living in close proximity to each other and growing from there.  Raleigh, North Carolina, however, is an exception to this common theme.  Raleigh was created to be the planned capital city of North Carolina in 1972 by the State of North Carolina.  The reason for this planned capital was that North Carolina’s General Assembly decided that the state needed a centralized, permanent location in order to manage state government.  Once this was decided, the state purchased 1,000 acres of land from a landowner in Wake County named Joel Lane on March 30, 1792.  The city plan was developed and approved that December, and was officially named “Raleigh” after the sixteenth-century English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.  Raleigh would grow to become one of the most desired places to live and work in the country.

            Although the city grew slowly at first, as time went by it became more than just a city of government.  Businesses began to open all over Raleigh including inns, taverns, and other services and basic needs.  Store began to replace residences downtown, and commerce became a big part of the capital.  This expansion and creation of new businesses was directed toward consumers up until the Civil War.

            On May 20, 1861, North Carolina seceded from the Union and became part of the Confederacy in the Civil War.  Raleigh had the first training camp in the state, resulting in thousands of North Carolina residents arriving there to train for the war.  Raleigh, however, was fortunate enough to not have received the devastating demolition that other southern capitals experienced.  This was because by the time General William T. Sherman of the Union arrived in Raleigh, the Confederate general Robert E. Lee had already surrendered in Virginia.  Raleigh still played a very important roll in the Civil War, and was hurt by the loss of the war.

            After the Civil War, Raleigh tried to expand economically through manufacturing.  Despite these efforts, it did not really thrive as a manufacturing base like many other cities in North Carolina.  Instead, it became a center of family businesses, which provided slow and steady economic growth for the city.  Raleigh experienced a movement of different publishing establishments, which helped with communication and advertisement.  Over time, Raleigh evolved into the social nucleus of the state.  People from all over the state would come to downtown Raleigh for the rich culture it offered.  This included, opera, motion pictures, shopping, and other entertainment.

            Not only did Raleigh establish itself as the governmental and cultural center of the state, but also the educational center.  Women’s colleges such as Peace College and Meredith College, black colleges like Shaw University and St. Augustine’s college, and a large land grant university in North Carolina State University all helped the city’s standing in this department.  Raleigh was a pivotal provider in the world wars, offering sons, money, and time.  It did benefit from World War II once it was over, as it experienced a housing boom, which led to population growth.  Research Triangle Park was established and made Raleigh a high-tech research city.

            Despite all of these changes, the event that affected Raleigh the most in history would be the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.  Black students and activists performed public protests all over the city.  They paraded through the streets, drank out of white water fountains, and went into white restaurants all to ensure equal rights for all citizens.  These actions made sure that the Jim Crow laws were abolished and that the city of Raleigh would soon have legislation that would safeguard all people, no matter their race.  After this monumental change in culture, Raleigh continued to expand over the next few decades, while remaining the core cultural focus of North Carolina, as well as one of the most important cities in the South, and in the county.

Works Cited

Peters, Ken. "North Carolina History Project : City of Raleigh." North Carolina History Project : Encyclopedia. Raleigh City Museum, 23 Feb. 2006. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.