American Literature Essay

Works of artistic creation reflect the influences of the period, during which artists have created them. either sort of art exposes the trends prevailing in the period of time when the art was created. Paintings belonging to varied periods differ from each other, as the artists follow a style that is reminiscent of the period they lived in. Two such house paintings which reflect the periods in which they were painted are identical booze by American Asher Durand and The megascopic Clinic by American Thomas Eakins.The painting Kindred Spirits, painted in 1849 reflects Romanticism whereas the painting The Gross Clinic reflects Realism. In this paper we will psychoanalyze these two paintings and focus on the differences in ideas and attitudes expressed through the paintings. Differences The painting Kindred Spirits reflects the period of Romanticism during which the emphasis was placed on the depiction of feral record in paintings. In this painting, Asher Durand has captured a affluent and vibrant natural ornament.Although the painting depicts Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant, the natural landscape is more prominent in the painting. The natural features like Catskill Mountains, the Fawns Leap and the Kaaterskill travel are incorporated in the landscape. Durand has removed himself from the painting and decided to imply Cole whom he wanted to honor through his painting. But the sensation of the major characteristics of Durands landscape paintings is visible in this painting as well as and that is depiction of harmonious nature.Durands landscapes almost always move toward harmony, and he located his own vision of landscape solidly within the esthetical category of the beautiful, as this term was understood in the nineteenth century. (PecK). The instant details of nature are highlighted by Durand. The depiction of a legitimate landscape points out that Durand wished to bring forth a realist image of the nature rather than an idealized one where an imaginary landscape is depicted in a painting. The aesthetic kayo of nature is revered and admired by Durand.The painting The Gross Clinic presents a view which differs vastly from Romanticism. Being a realist painting, The Gross Clinic depicts a surgical theater where a surgery is be carried. A real event of surgery is depicted on the canvas, in spite of the fact that the scene was horrific. Through this painting, Eakins presents the reality of life in an audacious manner. The realist attitude of Eakins towards life is portrayed through his painting. The conditions in which a surgery was performed during the nineteenth century are presented in the painting.The painting Kindred Spirits provides a beautiful view of nature which is pleasant and assuasive whereas the painting The Gross Clinic disturbs the mind of the looker. Eakins was more interested in the events that occurred in real life and he insisted on capturing those events in a veridical way. His painting The Gross Clin ic is one such painting that focuses on a real event which is painful and disturbing but necessary to study the life of that period. The atmosphere in a surgical theater, the naked humane body and a distressed woman provide a dirty but real picture of life.The display of nudity which prevailed in tardy Nineteenth Century is included in this painting in form of the naked human body upon which surgery is being performed. The pleasing beauty of nature, which is represented in the painting Kindred Spirits, contrasts with the horrifying depiction of a surgery in The Gross Clinic.Works CitedPeck, Daniel. Unlikely Kindred Spirits A New Vision of Landscape in the Works of enthalpy David Thoreau and Asher B. Durand. American Literary History. 174(2005) 687-713. http//alh. oxfordjournals. org/cgi/content/ful