Date

February 26, 2023.

Programs Used

Adobe Photoshop.

For the Project

For my new and old project, I explored the theme of creating contrasts by combining culturally bound images and objects in different ways. I wanted to explore the discrepancies between high-income and low-income societies. I took a high art painting, which is The Portrait of Madame X (1884) by John Singer Sargent (The Met), cut out the woman subject, and blended her into a low art environment. The low art environment is the background, which is the backyard from the children’s cartoon, Phineas and Ferb. Cartoons are a form of low art because they are more accessible and easier to comprehend for a large population of people. Cartoons are mainstream; people see them in television shows, movies, advertising, and school. The portrait is considered high art because it is concerned with aesthetics more than accessibility. Fine art is shown at prestigious museums whereas cartoons are in the media every day. To contrast, Madame X looks elegant, soft, and feminine whereas the Phineas and Ferb background is rough and masculine.  

My piece creates contrasts by combining culturally bound images because cartoons are available to the masses whereas portraits and fine art is found in museums. In my work, I placed the woman in a more colorful environment. I want the woman to look higher in status compared to the rest of the piece. Of the artists we explored, Kehinde Wiley did something similar by, “replacing the European aristocrats depicted in those paintings with contemporary black subjects.” Wiley’s pieces “are set against contrasting ornate decorative backgrounds that evoke earlier eras and a range of cultures,” (Brooklyn Museum). By adding The Portrait of Madame X to Phineas and Ferb’s backyard, I am making this fine art piece more understandable for a broader audience. In no real-world situation would you find this prestigious woman in an environment like this. Another inspiration I had during this process was Alexey Kondakov. Kondakov takes high art subjects from powerful paintings and adds them in ordinary, modern locations. By doing this, Kondakov is making these subjects more relatable. 

I used the principle of design principle of emphasis for my project. Madame X and the tree are placed horizontally on the left side using the rule of thirds. The audience’s eyes are immediately drawn to the subject resting on the tree. Madame X also has a different texture than the rest of the piece. She is cut out from the original painting using layer masks, so you can see the brush strokes rather than a two-dimensional, square-based background image. In the editing, I added a slight drop shadow to not only accompany the shadow of the tree, but to add dimension to the piece. I also added the “warm colors” LUT and messed with the levels of The Portrait of Madame X. I wanted the cutout to be incorporated into the background, but still be able to see a contrast between the high art image and low art background. I adjusted her hand by rotating it so that it would rest on the tree. In the original painting, her hand was resting on a table. In contrasting culturally bound images, Madame X represents high-income societies. The cartoon background represents low-income societies. By adding the high art cut out of The Portrait of Madame X to the Phineas and Ferb background, I am bringing in a high-income image into a more accessible context for low-income societies.  

“Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic.” Brooklyn Museum, 20 Feb. 2015, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/kehinde_wiley_new_republic/.  

Kondakov, Alexey. “Me Getting into New Work Week.” Instagram, 8 Nov. 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CWAxBSEN-Pp/. 

The Met. “Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau).” Metmuseum.org, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12127. 

Ysl, Gen. “Pin on Phineas and Ferb.” Pinterest, 24 Sept. 2021, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/548242954648253156/.