George Caleb Bingham and Vasili Kandisnky

Bingham's Fur Traders Descending the Missouri is a painting in which i'm not too too fond of. The scenery is beautiful but to many people at the time this area was unknown. In the painting both of the subjects are staring at the viewers. The father is looking with an intense face yet when you look a little closely it looks as if there's a sadness in his face as if he isn't quite content with his life. The son is gazing as if bored and unhappy. What i don't like about this painting is the overall feeling of sadness and a little ominous feeling as well. I get the feel, when i look at this painting, that it's like a battle has just ended but the war is still going on. I feel like something bad is going to happen. The bear cub that is chained looks like a cat to me. The expression is unknown but the color gives off a bad feeling. Like the book says, it gives off a small hint of fear of the unknown or fear of nature. However, to me i pity the animal. Although i don't really like cats, i feel like the animal is a symbol of being like a prisoner of war.

The next painting i wanted to talk about was Kandinsky's Black Lines No. 189.  in this painting the colors are used in a circular or round fashion; kind of like balloons. The black lines are used in lines or hatched across or sometimes scribbled in a circular motion. What i like about this picture is that i see colors that would symbolize different times of day or different seasons. I love his work because it gives the viewers their own perspective. What i mean is that not everyone will get the same thing out of this piece of work. Some may think it symbolizes something while others will thing he is painting the sounds to a song or to music. Some may think it's his way of portraying the earth or some place on this earth. When i look at this painting i see sunset, night time, day time, snow, grass, water, horizons, love, mountains, and more. I see an entire world. This painting to me looks like the environment at different times of the year; in different places; and at different times of day. The feeling i get when i look at this painting is kind of a surreal feeling. It's like i'm dreaming of a particular kind of setting portrayed by these colors and shapes. The black symbolizes the objects there or terrain while the colors symbolize the time of day and year. I feel a rush of happiness when i see this painting but at the same time i feel like something can easily change at any time. It makes me believe that i really should live for now and enjoy the happy times while i can because they can abruptly change at any given moment.