Six Sterling artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago

• The Spy Reinhard Gehlen
• The artist is Zhitomirsky, political artist
• The subject of this piece was a West German Intelligence Spy
• Previously a Nazi General and leader of Hitler's secret service
• The spy somehow prevented the publication of his photo in the newspapers
• It is very interesting that the artist chose to use photographs of material evidence for a trial of captured spies because he could never get enough pictures of the man's face
• He explains this as an X-ray snapshot of a spy
• From the silhouette we can see that figure is leaning a little to the left, has his hands in his pockets with his collar turned up. 
• This is the iconic covert pose of a spy
• The yellow background is in contrast with the dark grey silhouette that makes up the figure of the spy
• This color contrast makes this piece stand out

• Tetsunao Insect Cage Incense burner
• Made with gold, silver, bronze and shakudo (an alloy of gold and copper)
• The metal work to the insects, especially their legs is very fine
• Choosing to do something as intercut as a bug cage shows the metalist's skill in craftmanship
• The shakudo is a hallmark of most Japanese metalwork in the Meiji period
• The theme of the cage is set in the season of autumn
• it is visible in the gourds, flowers and grasses

• For Sunday's Dinner
• Oil painting by: William M. Harnett
• Amazingly realistic, and looks 3 dimensional
• The texture, color and form are excellent.
•  The most prominent and interesting detail in my eyes are the textures of the bumps on the chicken's flesh and the soft fluffy look of the feathers still unplucked
• Pale plucked textured chicken is in contrast with the dark flat shiny door
• This piece of artwork recalls one's memory from a time when chicken wasn't simply bought at the store in a large plastic container
• The hinges on the door are slightly brighter than the blackness of the door and frame the chicken
• It is a very simple picture in the elements it harbors but I personally could look forever at it because of it's masterful skill

• The Bronco Buster-Frederic Remington
• Cast by: Henry Bonnard Bronze Co.
• Made from Bronze and brown patina 
• Frederic Remington thought of himself as very horse orientated
• considered horses to be a symbol of freedom on the frontier
• I find this interesting because although it was a symbol of freedom for man it was not so for the horses
• Man's innovation hasn't been freedom for all
• Someone's almost always is liable to get hurt
• The struggle between man and beast was a good demonstration of the wild west
• always fighting to keep on top of the food chain

• View of Cotopaxi
• Frederic Edwin Church
• The subject is the Ecuadorian volcano Cotopaxi
• Church painted this piece as symbolic of God overseeing the garden of eden
• The volcano is the creating and destroying force
• The lush jungle is the garden of eden, able to be easily destroyed by the volcano
• Hierarchical placement is used to emphasize this ideology
• Aerial perspective is excellently 
• Brush work is masterful, strokes make the far away leaves look realistic

• Young Woman Sewing
• By: Pierre Auguste Renoir
• Oil on canvas
• Painted on his first visit to an estate in Normandy
• Made a series of paintings related to this based on this woman and her children
• Fuzzy paint strokes allow for a depth in the assortment of colors possible to use
• The background has many different colors
• The lightness coming from the right upper corner is reflected on the woman it the bottom left
• It is interesting to me that the flowers seem to have more contrast in dark and lights than the lady
• Most of my attention is drawn to the flowers because of this