Digital vs. Traditional

 Giorgio De Chirico

Giorgio De Chirico was born on 10th July 1888 in Volos, the capital of Thessaly (Greece). His father Evaristo was an engineer and his mother, Gemma Cervetto, a noblewoman of Genoese origin. After studying art in Athens and Florence, De Chirico moved to Germany in 1906 and entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Now for some reason de Chirico always had the element of mystery throughout all of his paintings which made them very interesting, until 1919. After 1919 his element of mystery started to dwindle and he became interested in the technical methods of the Italian classical tradition. Eventually he began painting in a more realistic and academic style, and by the 1930s he had broken with his avant-garde colleagues and disclaimed his earlier works. De Chirico’s Metaphysical paintings exercised a profound influence on the painters of the Surrealist movement in the 1920s.

Artist Name:  Giorgio de Chirico

Title: The Mystery and melancholy of a Street

Year: 1914

Description: The Mystery and melancholy of a Street is an oil painting where de Chirico uses leading line to draw your eye up the street. Also there are some dark and light tones shown throughout the painting. The isolated figure overpowered by its own shadow gives it that element of mystery.

Analysis: This painting has a lot of things that draw your eye and gets you thinking. I definitely think this painting follows the rule the thirds because nothing is really centered, not even the shadows. Also I would have to say the focal point would be the street because of how bright it is compared to everything else.

Interpretation: What I think he is trying to do is get us to make up our own story and apply it to the painting. I say this because that is where the mystery element comes in. That’s what a lot of his paintings where about.

Judgment: I think the piece was successful but very difficult to figure out. The element of mystery really through me off because I couldn’t tell what he was trying to say from the painting. Overall I liked the different tones and the overpowering shadows.

George Grie

George Grie was born in May 14, 1962. Grie's artwork is concerned with the portrayal of strong and powerful images relying on visual impact. They are about capturing visual paradoxes, sometimes they depict calm and contemplative moments, solitude, and sometimes melancholy. There is a stillness in his themes, which conveys a sense of inner-reflection and self-observation. His use of photo realistic distinction technique gives an amazing contrast between the light source and the often-dark tones found in his early pieces. His latest digital neo-surrealistic artworks are an extraordinary photo realistic visual record of his conceptual thoughts, philosophic views, fantasies, and dreams. Often journeying into the subconscious, Grie's work shows a magical and playful, dream-like world laced with mastery details. Supernatural illusions, mystic romanticism, spiritual magic, and delusional trance are all together presented in his digital world.

Artist Name:  George Grie

Title: In Search of Meaning In Search of Lost Time

Year: 2011

Description: In Search of Meaning In Search Of Lost Time Grie uses different techniques to make the picture lively and interesting. He uses leading line to give the photo depth with the building in the background. Also I like how he put some light tones in but not too much instead of leaving the picture all dark.

Analysis: This artwork has a lot of things that definitely draw your eye. The photo is mostly centered so he didn’t really use the rule of thirds. Other than that I don’t see many things that are wrong with this photo.

Interpretation: What I think he is trying to communicate to us is when a man is trying to search for meaning sometimes things can get dark and gray and the man may become torn. You have to remember things are always brighter on the other side.

Judgment: I think this piece was very successful and well thought out. The face splitting in half with the building looks really great. Also the way Grie shows the broken up building looks amazing as well. Overall I would give this piece 10 out of 10.