ART MINI ARTICLES PT.1

Love 5,000 Years Ago Victoria Fernandez

The tale of Eros (known to the Romans as “Cupid”) and Psyche is considered the greatest love story in original Greek mythology. Psyche was a mortal woman who possessed a beauty and grace greater than any other, and won the hearts of many men. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, became jealous and sent her son Eros, the god of love, to soil the hearts of the men so that they no longer desire her. However, Eros falls head over heels for Psyche himself, and devises a plan to be with her forever. She had renounced marriage to anyone who was not her true love and her royal family was desperate for Psyche to get married and sought the Oracle, or the Greek teller, for counsel. Behind the scenes, Eros communicates with Apollo, the Greek God in charge of the Oracle, to advise the King that his daughter Psyche was to marry the ugliest beast of the land that is feared even by the gods themselves (Aphrodite would have approved). Psyche would marry this beast, cloaked in darkness so that she could only be with him at night, but her husband would show her great happiness from his love and tenderness. One night she lights a candle to his face and is surprised to see that her husband was not an ugly beast, but the god of love himself. Illuminated, Aphrodite took notice of him and imprisoned him, and Psyche was given three impossible tasks if she wanted to prove her love and save him. She accomplished the first two with ease, but she was tricked while completing the third task and was cast into an eternal sleep. No fear, Eros escapes and begs Zeus to save her, and impressed by their love, he goes ahead and makes Psyche immortal. The two—Eros, the god of love, and Psyche, the goddess of the soul—were destined to be together forever. Her being symbolizes the search within the soul, the search for true love.

The Great Romantic Era - Tatiana Piña

Romanticism was not necessarily romantic, but that shouldn’t be a let down. Romanticism evoked a stir of new emotions and life in many artists. This included literature, art, music, and even architecture. The late 18th-19th century movement, romanticism, embraced the emotions and imagination that came from freedom and power. Most importantly, individuality.

The movement gained momentum in France and Britain in the early years of the 19th century after the French Revolution. These artists shedded light on the injustices and struggles of human beings, as well as, expressing the connection one has with nature. Most of these artists were once under the wing of Jacques Louis David, a former Neoclassicism artist. His studio was home to many famous romantic artists like Baron Antoine Jean Gros, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson, and Jean Augusta Dominique. This group of artists helped blur the line between neoclassicism and romanticism.

The new romantic attitude opened a new world of art that was engulfed with emotion and more details in something we saw to be simple. The best example of this, personally, is ‘The Raft of the Medusa, by Theodore Gericault. This painting was based on a real life tragic event, concerning a shipwreck in 1816. In an attempt to save their lives 150 people tried to climb onto a raft but only 15 were rescued. The painting portraying a tragedy instilled a creative amount of realism and prominent emotion of rejection. This once under-appreciated painting was eventually glorified and is now held in today's Louvre museum in France.

High School Love - Klaudia Litardo

High school is a place with thousands of different souls discovering phases of life, and it may just happen that one of those souls finds you and creates a perfect harmony. That is what we know as high school love.

Noah and Allie are two high school students that deeply fall in love with each other, spending the best summer and senior year together. Sounds familiar? Many of us might have experienced this feeling or are trying to find something similar. This is the Notebook the best romance movie ever (in my opinion). A love story where these souls find each other at an early age but the working of life makes them fall apart. Years later “destiny” makes them find each other realizing that there love never stops.

"It was real, wasn't it? You and me. Such a long time ago, we were just a couple of kids. But we loved each other, didn't we?" Romantic, don't you think? Everyone dreams about having a “love era” and it is ok to think about it. Humans are romantic by nature if we stop loving there will be a problem. Feel free to feel, love, and learn because at any time a soul will find you. When it finds you enjoy the moment, maybe that moment will become forever.

You are a Hopeless Romantic - Amelia Luque

It’s okay, me too. I love watching romantic movies that make me go down in a spiral asking myself, “How is this even real? Where can I find love like this?” It’s easy to fantasize about those moments in the movies and picture yourself in one. However, at the same time it seems impossible to. How can we have hope that we will find the connection Jack and Rose had? How can we expect someone to build us our dream home with a white porch that wraps around it? How do we have the audacity to think that after so many years of being friends, he had always wanted you? This is because we are hopeless romantics. We hope for situations that we know are far from happening and from reality. We are in love with the idea of being in love. We maybe aren’t in love ourselves but we wish to be and that is all our thoughts have come to be.

As hopeless romantics, I think we can all agree that we suffer from destiny beliefs issues. We trust that our one true, individual soulmate on this planet full of 7 billion people, will come and make us feel like the most special person on this planet. They will give us the best memories and unforgettable moments. They will make us feel whole. The problem with this is that, in my opinion, hopeless romantics already feel whole in a way. This is because we can’t stop thinking about the imaginary or real person that will make us feel whole through romantic scenarios.

THE ART OF VALENTINE - SABRINA THOMPSON

Through cards, songs, and poems, it might seem that Valentine’s day is where art is celebrated the most. Valentine's day might take a toll on some but to those who cherish the holiday, Valentine’s day is a great way to express and cherish love. Expressing love to friends, family, or a significant other. Art is a form of expression, an artist expresses a story or an emotion through their art. And on Valentine’s everyone scavages for something artistic and loving for their significant other. Therefore, Valentine’s day is not just a day for love, but for art too.

The most dramatic and influential stories and pieces of art are related to love. For example, the most iconic, Romeo and Juliet. That love story has taken on in the form of poems, movies, and songs. As Valentine’s day passes through, I believe that it is important to express love and appreciation to friends and family through the form of art. Art can be expressed in many different ways, through cards, letters, songs, and more.