Critical Analysis

For my first critical art analysis, I chose The Central Mountain by Wu Chen. After spending several minutes looking at this masterpiece, I found my gaze constantly being drawn to the dark patch of trees on the left and then the calligraphy. The colors were restricted to black and white ink drawn on a handscroll. The trees were mostly comprised of dots shaded to the artists liking. I am always fascinated by the complexity of shading and the way it brings meaning to a picture. Simple dots are transformed to trees, shaded lines are turned intou mountains. Beyond the trees were the a group of mountains in all sizes. Behind the Central Mountains, the artist used creative shading again to define a white sky full of clouds. The entire masterpiece screams simplicity. The mountains are simple mountains without animals grazing, snow tops or definied clouds swarming above. The trees are also just trees, they aren't fruit bearing or full of color. I appreciated the artrist incorporating calligraphy into his work. His calligraphy was the most elaborate part of the entire piece. To me, the combination of the calligraphy and the dotted trees makes the art piece much more desirable. The piece brings a distinct calmness to the onlooker. The mountains bring a sense of peacefullness and serentity to the picture. The trees, being so simple in nature, encouraged me to use my imagination. When I look at art, I always ask myself two questions. First, what does this mean to me and second, what do I think the artist's vision was for creating it. I honestly found this piece to be quite 'blah' but certainly respected the artist's vision and willingness to portray it for others to admire. I did appreciate the simplicity of the piece, but found myself using my imagination to make it more desirable to my taste. While looking at it, I grew calm and inquisitive. I imagine the artist probably felt many more emotions before, during and after completing this artwork. Knowing Wu Chen's handscroll fullfills the second roll of the artist it is meant to "give visible or tangible form to ideas, philosophies, or feelings," I imagine he used many different Chinese philosophies as visionary instruments. It is also obvious that Wu Chen is a nature lover, as am I. Still, for me, I was left wanting more while at the exact time realizng that sometimes less IS more and perhaps this was just the thing that Wu Chen meant to leave us with.