Depictions of Judith
So Jackson Pollock, the shock artist of modern painting who created "action paintings" that involved spreading canvases on the floor, dribbling paint, sand and broken glass on them, smearing and scratching them, and naming them with numbers, is famous as the most original painter in America for his unprecedented physical involvement with the act of painting. Is this really the greatest art we are capable of producing? And the art of Piet Mondrian, who used only primary colors, black and white, and straight-sided forms in his work, is lauded as a triumphant vindication of austerity. But you're not sure what you are looking at unless it is explained to you.
Your favorite sitcom done in the abstract modernist style would be just static; a huge wall on a building in your neighborhood with a mural done in the modern style would just be painted black; a concert in the modern style would be just three notes played over and over -- all strictly designed to shock you and break tradition.
What's sorely missing in this era is the storytelling that is so important in realistic art. Piet Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie is a series of yellow, red and blue lines like a crossword puzzle on a white background. Where are the cars, the grime, the frenzy of a crowded city street? You don't come away from this painting with any impression of feeling overwhelmed by the noise and congestion of a busy street. The painting is strangely serene and empty. The title alone, not the testimony of your eyes, is all that explains the subject matter.
Let's consider three different renditions of the Biblical story of Judith killing Holofernes. The story goes that Judith, a rich and beautiful widow from the town of Bethulia who was respected for her devotion to God, cut off the head of Assyrian general Holofernes to save her people. In paintings of the past she was usually shown holding Holofernes' head after she was done beheading him.
Then the great artist Caravaggio, in 1598, created a painting of Judith actually in the act. She's young, well-heeled, perhaps a bit prissy. Though repulsed by what lies ahead, she is completely composed and her face shows an icy determination to finish her task.
Another version of the Judith story, done in 1612 by female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, shows her as a strong and capable heroine. The dreadful act is
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