Reviewing Paintings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reviewing Paintings - Essay Example In the paper "Nudity and 19th Century Americans" the focus will be placed on American attitudes towards nudity during the 19th century. In order to gauge the American response, three art works containing nudity at varying degrees will be analyzed for the responses that they inspired from this population. The works featured here include Nymph with Bittern by William Rush, Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos by John Vanderlyn and Raphaelle Peale’s Venus Rising from the Sea-A Deception. Nymph with Bittern is a statue of a woman who is draped from the waist down. Upon her shoulder she bears the weight of a bittern. This statue had been created specifically for public display. After the Yellow Fever epidemic, the city of Philadelphia built their first water treatment facility which was located in what William Penn had decided would be the town center. The center was a place where all of the government buildings were to be located, however the area sat empty for a while, as Pennâ €™s carefully designed plans were not followed. Rush carved the statue and it was placed in this center. There were no major uprisings or protests because of this stature. The level of nudity displayed seems to have been acceptable among the people. Rush’s work was appreciated and he was commissioned to create other works. On the contrary, the work of Vanderlyn was not so well received. Vanderlyn is considered to be the first American painter to use nudes. In his painting the woman lying on the grass is totally nude accept. for a small piece of cloth on her thigh. It was Vanderlyn’s mission to enhance the tastes of the American people. He had studied abroad in France and this overseas education influenced his work. Of the painting it has been reported that â€Å"†¦when it was first displayed in America in 1815, its sensual approach caused controversy and as late as the 1890s, when it was firmly ensconced in the Pennsylvania Academy’s collection, there protests against its ‘flagrant indelicacy’ and calls for it to be removed from display† (Venus Observations 2009). For a while the painting resided in the home of Asher B. Durand who had a great appreciation for it. However, Durand kept the painting covered with a veil so that it would no offend his guests (Lane 1999). Raphaelle Peale felt that all of the controversy over paintings of nudes was ridiculous. He was a friend of Durand and had taken interest, not only veiled painting, but in people’s attitudes towards nude paintings. As it was reported â€Å"†¦Raphaelle Peale, chose to satirise this prudery in a painting of his own† (Lane 1999). Even his father held the position that such paintings should be covered up. Peale however did not agree. To prove a point and scoff at the conservatives Peale created Venus Rising from the Sea-A deception. The painting is of a woman who is rising from her bath, but see cannot be seen because she is behind a sheet that is secured to a clothes line. The sheet, however, is exquisite. The history of these three works of art demonstrates that there was some tolerance to nudity amongst Americans in the 19th century. The statue by Rush, Nymph with Bittern, seems to have been acceptable. The woman in it is only partially nude. However, when it came to full nudity the people gathered to protest. Full

Global education and citizenship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Global education and citizenship - Essay Example Plato’s belief that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus is present in all children; therefore children should be trained by the state so that they may be qualified to resume the role of the ruling class in a state. Education as defined today is the organized teaching of a particular curriculum to students. â€Å"Education is the application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research to teaching and learning. It draws on other disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology.† [1] The earliest written piece of evidence found on the rights of children is a statement made by Thomas Spence in his famous book ‘The Rights of Infants†, published in 1796. Earlier than this period emphasis was only laid of the importance of education and no specifications were laid. While in the USA child rights movement was not born till 1800 with the concept of the â€Å"Orphan Train†; this special train was run of orphan children who used to work. It was not until 1853 that the first Children’s Aid Society was founded; who gave street children homes. There was very little and slow process on the movements for the rights of the children as this gave the world cheap labor and nor did the masters have to give any additional benefits. Various movements, committees and constitutional amendments were seen before the first effective step for the promotion of child rights was taken. After the Human Rights resolution was unanimously adapted on 8th March 1989, the commission decided that children around the world require special consideration and protection. It was decided that a draft convention on the rights of children would be adapted. This would define who fall under the category of a child; plans for continuous improvement of the situation of children all over the world would be drafted and acted upon. Convention on the Rights of