Jean-Michael Basquiat - Notary
Basquiat's work, on first look, appears random and haphazard. On further study, one can notice how planned everything in the painting seems to be after all, creating a balanced composition, drawing the viewer's eyes all across the painting. His uses muted colors, using orange and yellow with blue and black, managing to somehow give off a cold atmosphere, despite the use of warm colors. His lettering throughout the painting only provides more of a raw, seemingly thrown together look. If he had used blocky, "perfect," letters, the words would not provide the same effect. By writing in his own handwriting, he has allowed the painting to look more like an extension of his mind which the viewer can use to understand him, the same way a notebook or sketchbook might function.
Jasper Johns - Red Yellow Blue
This painting reminds me of many shirts and posters I've seen of colors written out in a color different than the one written (for example, RED is printed in blue ink). I think this is a very interesting concept, which forces the viewer to look twice. Johns also manages this effect by using only grays, or an absence of color in his painting, but writing out the words "Red, Yellow, Blue." It can almost make the viewer see colors that do not exist in the painting.
Stuart Davis - Champion
Davis consistently writes the word "ELSE" in his painting, forcing the viewer to consider what he means by this. It raises the questions, "Else...what?" or "What else?" almost like he is trying to get the viewer to think "What else is there?" This idea is an attempt to make viewers think differently about what they are viewing and consider what else the artist is trying to say than simply what is painted or drawn in their works. In this particular piece, Davis makes me wonder "What other champion is Davis referring to?" or even perhaps "Is being a champion overrated?"
Braque - Pair of Banderillas
This painting breaks up the typical plan of the canvas into several triangles and criss-crossing lines, adding an almost three-dimensional effect to the painting, as if the canvas caves inward slightly. The font Braque uses further accentuates the crossing lines and the angular shapes. The font has a serif, but still straight, attribute to it, as if the shapes jutting out of the middle of the canvas are the most basic form of the letters, the shapes each line of the letter was originally based on. The painting's atmosphere would definitely change if Braque used a curvier or more bubbly font.
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