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Anthony Neal

Professor Kardell

Honors English 101

September 23, 2018

Art is not only a way for artists to evoke emotion, but also a way to tell a story. When

paintings are set in chronological order of a subject’s life, they become vessels for history and

serve to teach the audience about said the sitter’s life. The way people interpret these are with

facial expression, gesture, objects, setting, clothing and focal point, along with our visual

analysis which includes properties such as line, color and figure/ground contrast. As a sitter

analyzes a series of works presented to them, they unknowingly craft a story based on what they

see, even if they have no background on the portrait or prior knowledge of the subject.

Grim and solemn, a distinguished man sits in his chair, the light from a nearby window

cast upon the left half of his face. This illumination creates an eerie mood within the portrait,

coupled with the way this suggested nobleman has turned his body as to not be seated

professionally. Red surrounds him, it is on his walls, his uniform and even the drapes, not only

capturing the setting but also the feelings of the subject. His slumped posture suggests anger,

disappointment or even defeat, maybe a combination of all three. The gesture he maintains acts

in a similar way, he is slumped in the chair and turned outward, giving the sitter the impression

that he is defeated and worn down. On his person is a set of well-maintained white clothing, an

older military style vest and riding pants paired with worn down black boots suggesting that he

has seen combat as a general or commander. However, a simple black coat surrounds his pristine

white clothing, building a sense of both color and social contrast. His hat however lies on the

floor, a representation of anger and disappointment as it was tossed to the floor. On the table sits
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a sabre, the sword of cavalry soldiers as well as a sign of wealth and nobility. However, it is

sitting on the table, almost unnoticed as it has seemed to lose its purpose in both battle and social

standing. Lastly, on the floor appears to be a hat, another object that has lost its purpose, perhaps

suggesting that the man portrayed is now the same. This man is a clear focal point as he stands

out from the rest of the setting, he is the center of the piece drawing the sitters eye to him.

In the second piece is the same man, however he is much more immortalized. In the

background there are men wearing similar military style uniforms, running as a cannon is

wheeled to the left, showing that this was in fact a war zone. The dry desert cliff they are

ascending proves how treacherous their journey was, and beyond that lies seemingly endless

mountains topped with an overcast sky. This subject sits on a white horse, this is typically a sign

of honor and dignity and sometimes even represents a savior. To add, this animal is rearing back

on its hind legs in a defensive stance, contributing to the mood of the piece overall. The man

riding it is covered in the nobleman’s war attire of the 1800s, the clothing is all clean and high

quality. His hat sits atop his head and he is covered in a red, flowing cloak giving off more vibes

of the man being an angelic savior of the people while also possibly displaying the color og his

home country. In this piece, instead of his sabre lain on a table it is at his side, ready for use

should the time come. Behind him a cannon rolls forward into position showing that he may be

commanding it. The figure looks nobly in the direction of the artist, letting the audience take in

his serious and confident expression. His hand is raised high, pointing onward, displaying that he

is in control of the battle field, meanwhile his left-hand grips onto the reigns of his riding gloves.

Once again, this man is the focal point, he is far in front of anyone else and is also on top of his

horse creating an empowering sense of elevation. Additionally, the sharp contrast in color adds
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to this foreground and background difference, behind him lies a bleak desert with mountains and

a cloudy sky all while his white horse and bright red attire stand out amongst all else.

Overall, a story is presented when looking at these two pieces. In the first an older,

defeated and visibly upset man slumps in his chair while his past relics no longer serve a

purpose. In the latter a younger, robust man commands an army atop a white steed. It can be seen

how comparing these two perhaps creates the story of the downfall of a distinguished man and

how it has impacted him socially, physically and psychologically.

Delaroche, Paul “Verdrag Van Fontainebleau (1814).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26

Nov. 2017, nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdrag_van_Fontainebleau_(1814). Accessed 1 October
2018.
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David, Jaques-Louis “Bonaparte Franchissant Le Col Du Grand-St-Bernard (1801). La Gazette

Des Bleus, 5 Apr. 2013, lagazettedesbleus.wordpress.com/1805/04/05/bonaparte-franchissant-le-
col-du-grand-st-bernard-par-david/. Accessed 1 October 2018

Evento by Juan Genovès

Juan Genovès was born in Valencia, Spain in 1930 to his father Juan Genoves Cubells, a

prominent artisan of the time. He began his art career early in life with t the exposure of crafting

furniture with his uncle as well as an education at La Escuela de Peritos Industriales beginning in

1944. Throughout his life, Genovès rose to become one of the most successful and influential

contemporary artists from the country, winning a number of awards along the way. Some of
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these awards include the gold medal at the 6th Biennale Internazional de San Marino in 1967 and

1st place in the Nacional de Artes Plasticas in 1984. Genovès was born into the regime of

Fransico Franco, this greatly impacted his works and helped to shape his art form to what we

know it as today.

In 1976, he had created his most well-known piece, “El Abrazo” or “The embrace”. This

work served as a protest to the fascist regime and soon hundreds of thousands of prints were

hung throughout Spain, serving as a protest to the corrupt government. Due to this protest,

Genovès was sent to prison where he served as short term until Frasico Franco’s death in 1976.

After his release, Genovès changed his art style from acrylic on canvas to that of which viewers

see today, a mixed media composed of acrylic and every day objects on a board, arranged in

such a way to make parts 3 dimensional that are classified somewhere between pop-art and

photorealism.

These works usually work to create a crowd of people, relaying back to his common

theme of social realism, likewise to that of Grant Wood and Diego Rivera. In his piece Evento

(2016), Juan Genovès creates a beautiful piece made of acrylic on canvas with the incorporation

of everyday objects that gets seemingly more complex the longer one gazes and studies it. At

first glance the piece seems to be two dimensional with outstanding use of shadow work, but at a

closer look it is then realized that it actually does incorporate three dimensional properties that

almost draw a viewer in as they try to comprehend what they are looking at. There is a defined

line of people in a crowd from the upper right-hand corner, working its way diagonal to the

bottom of the canvas developing a sense of separation despite the figures looking more or less

the same. Hundreds of small, faceless characters dance, or perhaps panic across the page, all

running to or from something. Their detailed, colorful clothes contrasting with the neutral canvas
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that they are placed on, almost forcing the viewer to analyze them. Then they are analyzed, it

becomes clear that parts are not what they seem, some of these people have things like: buttons,

paperclips, string and pasta woven into their bodies. This touches on his sense of social realism

and how societies truly value tangible objects to the point where it envelops them and creates an

individual’s sense of self. This piece truly displays the panic and chaos that was formative to

Genovès’s early life, being born into a fascist government surrounded by violence and

uncertainty. With the knowledge of the artist, one can truly understand this work and value it for

what it truly is, a sociopolitical commentary on the chaos of the world and the root of the chaos

itself; material items.

Bibliography

Villarreal, Ignacio. Spanish Contemporary Artist Juan Genovs Is Featured Artist at the 2012
Naples Winter Wine Festival, artdaily.com/news/52945/Spanish-Contemporary-artist-Juan-
Genov-s-is-featured-artist-at-the-2012-Naples-Winter-Wine-Festival#.W762Zi-ZOrc.

“Juan Genoves.” Ketterer Kunst, Art Auctions, Book Auctions Munich, Hamburg & Berlin,
www.kettererkunst.com/bio/juan-genoves-1930.php.

Juan Genovés, 2018, juangenoves.com/en/.