Artworks that depict families capture both bonds and complex relationships. Historical family portraits reflected the status of the subjects and often documented their dynamics as well. And countless artists have lovingly depicted the people that matter most to them, whether blood relations or chosen kin.
This most universal human emotion has inspired countless moving works of art.
Modern art can be intimidating. Here’s how to trust yourself and your own reaction to what you see.
connect with it as well. “I definitely feel drawn to [works] that evoke some emotion
to quote Jonson’s biographer Ed Garman, “they did not come out of a reactive emotion
Sculptures come in many forms—from figures chiseled out of stone to interlocking pieces of metal suspended from a ceiling. They can be made of almost any material: marble, clay, silver, wood, bronze, steel, wax, pâpier-maché, and more.
This creates a sense of movement and intense emotion.
Learn about some of the artists the modern painter was in dialogue with throughout his career.
Rembrandt, particularly for his ability to use contrasts of light and dark to convey emotion
Hip-hop artist Jasiri X looks at Kerry James Marshall’s woodcut almost like he’s looking into a mirror. It captures the experience of a Black man: resilient but restrained from being his authentic self. Jasiri responds to the work through two songs that reflect on his internal struggle.
Like, what’s the emotion? JASIRI X: I think it’s very, like, reflective.
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was the first to permanently record an image using light in 1837. His daguerreotype changed the way we consume images. Many innovations like stereographic photographs and tintypes would follow but it was George Eastman’s invention of the Kodak film camera in 1888 that made cameras widely available.
Dorothea Lange Washington, D.C. artist and native Dee Dwyer attempts to recreate the emotion
Between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Jesus is said to have descended into the realm of the dead where he liberated the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. This event, known as the Decent into Limbo, is represented here on the right wing of a triptych by Andrea di Vanni .
robust, naturalistic forms are carefully organized to express compelling human emotion
There is perhaps no individual who embodies the power of photography more than Gordon Parks.
captured on film, when put together like words, can weave tales of feeling and emotion
This panel forms the left wing of a triptych by the Sienese painter Andrea di Vanni . The event depicted comes from Christ’s Passion and is known as the Agony in the Garden, during which Jesus prayed for the strength to endure his impending persecution.
robust, naturalistic forms are carefully organized to express compelling human emotion
