Themes of Art

Internet Site 1
The first memorial is called Vietnam Veterans Memorial which was designed by Maya Lin, a Chinese-American. “Lin's conception was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers. The design was initially controversial for what was an unconventional and non-traditional design for a war memorial. Opponents of the design also voiced objection because of Lin's Asian heritage.”
Because of the controversy they added one called the Three Soldiers which was designed by Frederick Hart and contains three bronze statues of soldiers of different ethnicities. The third memorial is the Women’s Memorial which was designed by Glenna Goodacre . The original design of the Women’s Memorial was “deemed unsuitable” because “it included a standing figure of a nurse holding a Vietnamese baby, which although not intended as such, was deemed a political statement, and it was asked that this be removed. She replaced them with a figure of a kneeling woman holding an empty helmet.”
The sculpture that I think reflects the Vietnam War more appropriately is Maya Lin’s , because of the fact that “when a visitor looks upon the wall, his or her reflection can be seen simultaneously with the engraved names, which is meant to symbolically bring the past and present together.” I think it says a lot about the way the memorial was chosen how the censorship because of politics took place in deciding which one was the most suitable.

Internet Site 2
The painting The Beggars could be viewed a social statement, because of the message it sends through the canvas and into people’s eyes. The background is pure black, with brighter dark colors such as brown and green in forefront. The images are blurry with a few details. The people look like they are staring down an alley way at the happy people walking by, ignorant of their surroundings, and the beggars look at them with envious faces.
I think the message of Daumier was to look at things differently than just what you choose to black out. I think Daumier wants people to be aware of society’s need for hunger and poverty. He is successful because the images and colors are full of despair, to reveal more than the black background. I wish there was more to this painting beside the obvious. I probably wouldn’t spend much time looking at it. It’s pretty simple and has a clear message.
I don’t think the beggars look any more in need than the ones I have encounter in real life such as walking through San Francisco or even as close to us as Salt Lake City. I just think they are reflective of their real life counterparts. You can’t tell how much people are hurting until you actually talk to them and hear their stories for yourself.

Re: Art and Propaganda.
I think every piece of art could contain a hidden message such as propaganda or a political agenda. Every artist has to be inspired somewhere, so why could it be politics or the events in the world around them? I just don’t agree on censoring an image like the Women’s Memorial, because someone doesn’t agree with the message you are trying to convey in your artwork. There are definitely a lot of statues in Washington, D.C., of past important people like Abraham Lincoln, who have shaped this country and the future of the country. I think it is important to create art that can be viewed by a large audience, like tourists in D.C., which will teach the future generations about our history and what they can do to prevent our past mistakes from happening again, through the messages in art.