A. A. Schorsch: Art Education - The Elements of Art

Striving for strong dark-light contrasts, he used the whitest paper he could buy locally and sent to London for intense black ink not found in the United States. Both the deep darkness and the unusual viewpoint create dramatic tension in Night Shadows. A solitary figure in an unidentified city walks toward the shadow of an unseen lamp post. The possible danger lurking in the darkness, the barrier-like shadow across his path, and the isolation of the figure lend an ominous air to the image.

Janet L. Comey is a curatorial research associate in the department of Art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Art, Boston

http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=816

Like the art of Vincent van Gogh, Munch's work has been connected to his emotional pain and supposed insanity. His art was similarly understood in light of modernism's partiality toward creative independence and individuality. Somewhat paradoxically, given this emphasis on a distinctive vision, Munch's work has been interpreted as reflecting the influence of French and German art over Scandinavian cultural patrimony. However, when his body of work is considered in light of his personal diaries and letters, as well as the writings of contemporary critics, a very different picture of the artist emerges. Contrary to the prevailing view, recent scholarship demonstrates that Munch was very much in control of his professional career, a savvy businessman keenly aware of how to manipulate the art market and popular opinion. Moreover, he built his art on specifically Norwegian pictorial traditions.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/exhibition/munch

A work of raw intensity, Night Creatures is comprised of a crowded, allover whirl of gestural strokes of paint in which every inch of the surface is fully activated in a rhythmic patterning. This painting on paper is an abstract work, but the curving, linear forms nevertheless seem to coalesce into a web of vaguely suggestive imagery. Menacing (disembodied) eyes and heads emerge out of the crush of primarily black and white brushwork. Somber and haunting, the piece makes a highly emotional impact through its gestural paint handling, rich surface texture, density of interlocking form, and suggestive and menacing nuances of imagery. Krasner always maintained that her life and work were inseparable. She spoke of the necessity for art to communicate on a profound level: "I am preoccupied with trying to know myself in order to communicate with others. Painting is not separate from life. It is one."

Pollock’s finest paintings… reveal that his all-over line does not give rise to positive or negative areas: we are not made to feel that one part of the canvas demands to be read as figure, whether abstract or representational, against another part of the canvas read as ground. There is not inside or outside to Pollock’s line or the space through which it moves…. Pollock has managed to free line not only from its function of representing objects in the world, but also from its task of describing or bounding shapes or figures, whether abstract or representational, on the surface of the canvas.(Karmel 132) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock

Ben Shahn is noted as one of the greatest American graphic artists of the 20th century. Shahn loved to draw and his signature graphic style of economy of line, and bold, composition is easily recognizable. Shahn used his skill as a draughtsman and the medium of printmaking to disseminate his feelings and reactions to social and political events, to illustrate his personal interests, and to reflect on his spiritual background. http://www.davidsongalleries.com/artists/shahn/shahn.html

Father of Op-Art. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Vasarely

Artist Unknown, (San Blas islands of Panama) Kuna, Scorpion Mola, 1987 cloth, 19 x 12 "

These unique works of art are made by the women of the islands. Once used to decorate clothing, molas are now priced by collectors and museums alike.

MOLA: Several layers of cloth are sewn together and the top layers are cut and turned to show the colors underneath; this textile art is a folk art of the Kuna Indians of Panama.

http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/LineMain.htm

Wire and metal outdoor sculpture, 20 meters, NASA

When the wind blows, the Needle Tower bends, not breaks. When someone shoves it, it shoves back. The tower is lightweight, strong and curiously beautiful. This is an example of a tensegrity (short for tensional integrity) sculpture. It balances compression with tension, and yields to forces without breaking. In the Needle Tower, the wires carry tension and the rods bear compression.