David

From what I learned about David is that he was a romantic era painter which had a lot to do with ancient roman revival the roles of men and women.  One of my favorite paintings of his is one of his most well known, Oath of the Horaitii.  What I like about this painting is how beautifully the legs are rendered on the men.  Their knees show the weight and strength they put on them according to the stance they are in.  I also really love how perfectly the women's bodies are portrayed.  Even under heavy cloth I am able to sense the weight in their legs and body.  Their skin looks plushy and warm.  All aspects of the human body in each of the figures is so impressively done.

El Greco

A few weeks ago, I learned about the art work from El Greco.  His style is called mannerism because of the elongated forms and irregular usage of color. The figures are also usually tightly enclosed in a space.  Although all of his subjects are Christian themed, I actually really enjoyed this style of depiction.  It is so different from his era and I think it takes a lot of courage to step outside the lines especially with the topics he chose to depict.  Another element of mannerism that I find interesting is the contradiction of positions for the amount of weight placed on limbs.  In his Resurrection, figures are being thrown every which way and in unnatural poses.  This is very different from the realistic depictions we have learned in class and it gives the painting an uneasiness.

Lucian Freud

I had learned about a painting by Lucian Freud in one of my art history classes.  We wee on the topic or famous portraits and our professor brought up the image he did of the Queen.  I found it most interesting because she commissioned his work, but he did not embellish the portrayal.  If anything, he made her look worse than she actual is.  I applaud her and him for this new age portrait and am glad someone had the...balls... to be innovative.  He also does not glamorize himself in ANY way while doing self portraits.  I know that in my own depictions, even of classmates, I show them in the best light possible.