Monet and van Gogh essays

Monet and van Gogh essays No two artists can alone be considered responsible for the modern art movement, but both Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and Claude Monet (1840-1926) led two very distinct groups of artists out of the world we know as classical art. Though their styles differ greatly, they are both equally responsible for helping to shape the direction painting would go over the following century. Monet and van Gogh both left us with prolific bodies of work each representing their own view of life through their work on canvas and in their thoughts and words. Through their paintings, writings and letters we have been fortunate enough to understand both men's struggle for recognition as artists in a period when classicism was still held as the highest form of art. Aside from their shared struggle for acceptance as progressive artists-and perhaps an equal fascination with Japanese block prints-they are no closer to being alike than an apple and a grapefruit. Though Monet did not come from a wealthy family, he became involved with a group of peers that were well educated or part of the French aristocracy. The group, consisting of Degas, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro among others, all had one thing in common. They all cast aside tradition to bring to the heart of painting something real, immediate, fleeting and true to what they saw at the moment. In Manet's painting, Parisians Enjoying the Parc Monceau, 1878, we are given just that. He has stopped a moment in time when the high society is out, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon, sitting on a bench or strolling through the park. The scene is set so delicately at first glance, but upon closer inspection of the canvas, we find authoritative slashing strokes of oil paint, each one intended and defining this moment. From the bottom right of the 28 x 21 inch canvas comes a path which arcs up to the left and disappears behind a group of people walking. In the lower left foreground is a patch of grass where...

A Brief History of the African Country of Kenya

A Brief History of the African Country of Kenya Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenyas Lake Turkana indicate that hominids lived in  the area  2.6 million years ago. Cushitic-speaking people from northern Africa moved into the area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast around the first century AD. Kenyas proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements sprouted along the coast by the eighth century. During the first millennium AD, Nilotic and Bantu peoples moved into the region, and the latter now comprises three-quarters of Kenyas population. The Europeans Arrive The Swahili language, a mixture of Bantu and Arabic, developed as a lingua franca for trade between the different peoples. Arab dominance on the coast was eclipsed by the arrival in 1498 of the Portuguese, who gave way in turn to Islamic control under the Imam of Oman in the 1600s. The United Kingdom established its influence in the 19th century. The colonial history of Kenya dates from the Berlin Conference of 1885 when the European powers first partitioned East Africa into spheres of influence. In 1895, the U.K. Government established the East African Protectorate and, soon after, opened the fertile highlands to white settlers. The settlers were allowed a voice in government even before it was officially made a U.K. colony in 1920, but Africans were prohibited from direct political participation until 1944. The Mau Mau  Resist Colonialism From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule. During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly. Kenya Achieves Independence The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963, and the next year joined the Commonwealth. Jomo Kenyatta, a member of the large Kikuyu ethnic group and head of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), became Kenyas first President. The minority party, Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), representing a coalition of small ethnic groups, dissolved itself voluntarily in 1964 and joined KANU. The Road to Kenyattas One-Party State A small but significant leftist opposition party, the Kenya Peoples Union (KPU), was formed in 1966, led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former Vice President, and Luo elder. The KPU was banned shortly after and its leader detained. No new opposition parties were formed after 1969, and KANU became the sole political party. At Kenyattas death in August 1978, Vice President Daniel Arap Moi became President. A New Democracy in Kenya In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making Kenya officially a one-party state, and parliamentary elections were held in September 1983. The 1988 elections reinforced the one-party system. However, in December 1991, Parliament repealed the one-party section of the constitution. By early 1992, several new parties had formed, and multiparty elections were held in December 1992. Because of divisions in the opposition, however, Moi was reelected for another 5-year term, and his KANU party retained a majority of the legislature. Parliamentary reforms in November 1997 expanded political rights, and the number of political parties grew rapidly. Again because of a divided opposition, Moi won re-election as President in the December 1997 elections. KANU won 113 out of 222 parliamentary seats, but, because of defections, had to depend on the support of minor parties to forge a working majority.In October 2002, a coalition of opposition parties joined forces with a fact ion which broke away from KANU to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). In December 2002, the NARC candidate, Mwai Kibaki, was elected the country’s third President. President Kibaki received 62% of the vote, and NARC also won 59% of the parliamentary seats. Source US Department of State Background Notes.