Painting Memories

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Painting Memories
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Genre

• Art that depicts everyday life and its
  surroundings. Its purpose is simple record
  daily life, please the eye, make us smile and
  record important occasions.

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How do we remember events?

• Souvenirs

• 1

• Photographs

• 2

• Diary

• 3

• Video

• 4

• Stories , oral history

• 5

• Letters, books

• 6

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Before there were cameras

• The first practical camera wasnt invented until
  1888
• Painters would capture moments for families or
  record historical events

Madame Roulin and Her Baby Vincent van Gogh Oil
on canvas, 1888 Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
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Washington Crossing the Delaware Emanuel Leutze 
(American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 18161868 Washington,
D.C.) Oil on canvas, 1851. 149 x 255 in. (378.5
x 647.7 cm)
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After the camera was invented, artists still
continued to paint memories.
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Two Memory Artists

• Mattie Lou OKelley

• Carmen Lomas Garza

• 1908-1997
• Started painting at age 60 as a hobby
• Celebrated folk artist
• Painted Georgia countryside she knew in her
  childhood in the early part of the 20th century
  barns, farmers, animals and gardens filled with
  flowers and vegetables
• Wrote two storybooks with her own paintings as
  images

• 1948-
• At age 13 decided to become an artist
• Celebrated Hispanic artist
• Painted Chicano culture by portraying the family
  life of a typical Mexican American family their
  traditions, celebrations, ceremonies, everyday
  life, and religion.
• Wrote three books including her images as
  illustrations

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OKelleys whimsical landscapes employ flattened
images and fantastic colors. The flattened
perspective of My Parents Farm turns the
agricultural vista into a richly colored quilt of
productive fields.
Mattie Lou O'KelleyMy Parent's Farm, 1980Oil on
canvas, 58 x 42 inches
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Georgia Farm Oil on Canvas, 1991 23 3/8 x 31 3/8
inches
Simple joys fill Georgia Farm, an image of
abundance on a prosperous farm. OKelley
personalized scenes such as this with her use of
particular colors applied in small dabs. The
resulting texture is like needlework, especially
in areas of repetitive patterning such as the
lines of turquoise crops. She distorted
perspective so that space is flattened, creating
remarkable planar arrangements of color and
design.
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Carmen Lomas Garza Empanadas (turnovers) 1991,
gouache on cotton paper 20 x 28 inches.
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Carmen Lomas Garza Sandia / Watermelon 1986,
gouache on cotton paper 20 x 28 inches.
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• A little piece of my heart is how Garza
  describes her work. She reflects her Chicano
  culture by portraying the family life of a
  typical Mexican American family their
  traditions, celebrations, ceremonies, everyday
  life, and religion.

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Cumpleaños de Lala y Tudi (Lala and Tudi's
birthday party) 1989, oil on canvas, 36 x 48
inches.
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Comparison

• OKelley

• Garza

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Comparison

• OKelley

• GArza

• Oil on canvas
• Lines
• Repetition
• Texture
• Colors
• Children are happily swinging and playing with
  balls and dolls.

• Oil on canvas
• Balance
• Emphasis
• Unity
• Colors
• Happy scene at a birthday party