Hello and Welcome!
I'm Kevin Chen, a current pharmacy student at St. John's University, located in Queens. I have a few years of work experience in laboratories, involving mixing of chemicals and understanding their effects and hazards. I am also very knowledgeable about crafting detailed research papers and lab reports for different experiments on technological programs, such as excel, Microsoft words, and google drive. Moreover, with these skills, I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge about certain medications and prescriptions in today's society. I hope to expand this knowledge by acquiring more work experience, so that I may be equipped in providing a better healthcare to the community and people. If you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact me as I hope that I can be helpful for your institution.
Kevin Chen
Tele: 646-944-5809
Email:kevin.chen19@stjohns.edu
-Student at St. Johns University Pharmacy Program
-Peer tutor for High School and summer program for kids
-Volunteered as a member for a learning institution and performed clerical tasks
Metropolitan Museum Art Analysis
The artwork that I have selected for my metropolitan museum analysis is “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze. It was created in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1850, and then later transported to New York, where it was exhibited in a gallery. This is a painting on canvas, depicting George Washington and his men crossing the Delaware River in order to launch an attack during the Revolutionary War. When I first saw this picture in the museum, I was amazed and awestruck by the various techniques that Leutze utilized to captivate my attention, making this artwork an interesting and unique piece to analyze.
When discussing about this historical artwork, I would first love to explore its subject matter. In this piece, there is a depiction of George Washington standing and looking straight ahead with a man holding the American flag and soldiers rowing the boat. In addition, the setting takes place in a river with small glaciers, making the journey difficult as shown in soldiers’ expression. These elements highlight a sense of patriotism and pride for one’s country through the perception of the men’s efforts for success.
After looking at the artwork’s subject matter, it is also important to understand the compositional elements that Leutze utilized to develop this fascinating scene, such as format. The format for this painting is a large horizontal rectangle, showing a perception of the vastness of the river and the numerous amount of soldiers in this setting. Moreover, by using a landscape orientation, the artwork not only includes the beautiful setting of the river, but also the soldiers in this scene, showing a lively scene through the involvement of the men with nature.
Another technique that Leutze uses for his painting is brushstroke to develop the surface and texture. In this artwork, Leutze uses oil painting on canvas, which contributes to the smoothness of the lines and colors in the painting. By using this technique, there is also an illusion of volume and space on this flat surface painting. This effectively creates intensity and realism in the image as there are different variations in colors and tonal depth through the effective blending between the characters and the background.
While oil painting is used in the artwork, it is also interesting to note the way the lines are drawn to gather attention. By using the lines to create clear shapes with enclosed space, the audience is able to distinguish between each object in the painting, such as the characters and the ocean. Not only that, but there are also diagonal lines shown in the rows and american flag, which directs the audience’ eye movement to the left and right of the painting in order to observe the scene more clearly. This also causes the audience to look at the rigid and rough lines on the glaciers, helping them grasp the harsh conditions that the soldiers have to deal with while rowing.
All these elements help the audience gain a clearer perspective of the art, but there is two particular elements that is striking to me, which are scale and proportion. When looking at the picture, the first thing to appear to me is George Washington. Leutze is able to direct my initial attention to him because of his enormous size in the painting in comparison to the rest of the soldiers. For instance, since George Washington is standing in this scene, I am able to see his entire body. On the other hand, I am unable to see the entire body of the soldiers in his boat since they are rowing while sitting down. By making George Washington the biggest figure in this image, the audience is able to express awe at such a dominant figure like him. Leutze also elaborates on George Washington’s immense size in this image by making the rest of the boats appear smaller and smaller. By making them smaller, Leutze wants the audience to spend more time looking at George Washington and his boat. Therefore, through the variations of scales and proportions, Leutze is able to help the audience realize how important George Washington is at this moment as he is the leading figure of all the soldiers and boats.
As George Washington is the dominant figure here, Leutze also continues to explore this through other compositional elements too, such as hue. In the painting, there is one specific dark color for each clothing of the soldiers. However, in the center, George Washington has a variation of colors in his outfit, which includes red, black, and grey for his cloak, and especially brown for his pants. Moreover, there are also colors of blue and white surrounding the boat, that helps the reader distinguish the setting as a river with a clear sky. These factors help the audience better identify the objects and surroundings in the image and acknowledge George Washington’s beauty here.
These colors also create an atmospheric perspective by creating an illusion of space through the intensity of the colors. For example, on the bottom of the image, the river tends to be darker, but it is more brighter as our eyes look towards the top of the painting. The transition from dark to bright color in the sea helps us understand how vast the ocean really even though it appears close to us here.
While the colors and atmospheric perspective really captivates our attention easily, Leutze also uses luminosity to continue directing our attention. Initially, our eyes look towards the center because there is a significant presence of light illuminating around George Washington. This direction makes us focus more on George Washington and his ship rather than the rest of the soldiers in the background. This light can also imply that the sun is rising due to the contrast between light and dark tones in the left and right of the image. The light here can represent hope and confidence for the soldiers in the upcoming event of the war.
Lastly, there is gesture, which helps the audience better understand the meaning behind the actions of the characters in this art. After identifying each character and object, the audience will be able to see that George Washington is standing and putting his right foot outwards. By using this pose, it is evident that he is very confident in the battle that is approaching, highlighting hope and pride. By also noticing that his face is fixated towards the left of the image, we can see how George Washington is concentrated and ready to take action. Now, as we take a look at the other gestures of the soldiers, we see how the soldiers, who are rowing the boat, are looking downwards onto the river and have their hands stretched outward. These actions signify their hard efforts to make progress, signifying their determination and strength.
In conclusion, all of these compositional elements help the audience better understand how Leutze effectively convey meaning through his various art techniques. By using many compositional elements, he is also to direct our attention to the most important parts of the painting, such as Geoge Washington and his boat. By focusing mainly on George Washington, Leutze is able to help us see the importance and significance of the character through his lens and point of view.
Metropolitan Museum Exploration Photos
Immigration/Migration Narrative
Family Portrait - Walter and Vida holding their son and daughter in 1926. National Park Service.
Assignment #1
November 25, 1905
Dear Daniel Chan,
Hello, my best friend, how are you doing? Ever since I left England, I missed you dearly and I wanted to write this letter to inform you about my reasons for leaving a while ago (Hayter). When I used to live here with my family, I watched them suffer in poverty as we did not have the money to continue supporting ourselves. In fact, my mother and father were always struggling to find jobs since unemployment rate was relatively high. As the standards of living became more difficult, my father decided that it was time to travel to America, a place where he believed that there were many economic opportunities for everyone. With the little amount of money that we had saved, it was possible to make this transition for the better. While this transition was very stressful, it certainly helped my family in the long run and I hope you continue to read this letter to the end as I have many important things to tell you about my experience in America.
When I was ten years old, I was nervous and happy when I heard that my family was going to be living in America. I did not know what to expect because I was very young at that time and it was going to be a life changing experience (Hayter). As we packed our precious possessions, we had to leave behind many things since we could not take everything, which was heartbreaking but necessary. In fact, I could only bring some pairs of clothes, one pair of shoes, and one toy. After packing, my father made arrangements with an officer to board the ship in the upcoming months with our family, consisting of my father, mother, sister, grandmother, and I.
After boarding the ship, my family and I were very nervous since we would be leaving our homeland to obtain a new experience in America. However, crossing the Atlantic on this ship was a very unpleasant and horrific experience. For example, many people were seasick and some were vomiting, which contributed to an unhealthy environment on the ship for everyone. In addition, most people were starving and thirsty, but we had to endure this pain for a few weeks until we reached our destination, Ellis Island.
Through a hard and challenging journey, we finally reached Ellis Island, but we had to get off at a checkpoint first before reaching to the harbor since the doctors had to examine everyone before proceeding further, which was a very tedious process (Talmon). Nevertheless, I was glad that my family was able to proceed to the harbor after being confirmed that they had no diseases. I was afraid that the authorities would not let us continue any further to America after all the troubles that we’ve gone through in these months.
However, while the process of being checked was very long due to the different languages that everyone spoke, the process of registering to become citizens of America was tiring and long too. Everyone had to show their documents and papers to legally confirm their identity and birth to the authorities and officials. This process took a few weeks because there were a lot of legal documents to go through in order to successfully allow people to enter into America.
After our family was granted permission to enter into America, we immediately looked for a place to settle in. Eventually, we located a tenement at 91 Orchard Street after a very long trip and paid our first rent of the month. During this time, we noticed that our neighborhood was very busy with people constantly looking for jobs and desperately seeking money. This was very natural since we were all trying to find opportunities to live. In fact, since my father and mother did not know how to speak English, they were struggling very hard to get a job to consistently pay the rent.
A week later, we finally obtained jobs in order to earn money to pay off the bill. My mother was a dressmaker, my father was a businessman, and I was a worker at a textile factory. At first, I was happy that I received a job in order to pay the bills and support myself, but it was very tiring on a daily basis. While we worked very hard, we still received low wages from the owners that we worked for. Therefore, in order to budget our earnings, we had to eat bread and fruits very often.
Although I usually work for long hours on the weekdays, I would usually have time for myself on the weekends to have fun. For example, I would change into my comfortable attires, consisting of a blue tunic and knee shorts. Then, I would meet up with my friends from the factory, who were also kids, to hangout. We usually run around and play tag on the streets, much to the adults’ chagrin. Moreover, with the money that I’ve saved up, I would use a fraction of it for my own leisure, such as buying candy and toys.
After traveling to this new country, I discovered many new opportunities. For example, since industrialization was growing rapidly, my family and I were able to obtain jobs because there was a high demand for jobs in the industry since many businesses were growing. Moreover, while the wages were still relatively low for the standard of living, it was more than what we earned in England, which helped us live a little better.
On the other hand, while we found better economic opportunities, living here in America was very difficult. In fact, while I had to work in the factory, it was very stressful as I was breathing in smoke and exerting a lot of force on a daily basis. Moreover, by working over 50 hours a week, I came to a realization that the wage was not rewarding, but it was necessary to obtain in order to survive. Furthermore, our tenement was very unsanitary since we had a barrel for waste, another barrel for supply of water, and a lot of coal over the ceilings, walls, and the floor (Riis). Coal was necessary for living, such as for cooking, so we had to bear with it, which was miserable. These experiences were not great to have, but it was definitely better than living in poverty and almost being homeless in England.
Overall, when I was in England, I anticipated that America would offer a great deal of opportunities for everyone. However, when I arrived here, it was different from what I imagined. In fact, many people were struggling to find jobs and there were still people living in poverty. Although it was difficult, there were promises of many opportunities if people worked hard to obtain it. In fact, after working hard as a kid, I was able to save up money for a good education to become a successful businessman. Now that I am twenty years old, I already have my own business. By continuously seeking new opportunities, I would be able to adapt in this hard and difficult world in America and keep my hope alive by meeting new people and constantly learning how to grow my business. By doing this, I would be able to be proud of myself and help my family in finances. As a result, this transition to America completely changed my life as it gave me opportunities that never came to my family in England. Therefore, I would like to thank you for always being kind and supportive to me, which gave me the courage to try new things for the better or worse and I hope you can visit me sometimes in America.
Sincerely, Johnson Hayter
Works Cited Page
1. "Hayter Family". www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/stories_hayter.htm. National Park Service.Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. NY. Web. February 26, 2015.
2. Talmon, Noelle. "The 12 Grueling Steps To Legal Immigration Through Ellis Island". www.ranker.com/list/ellis-island-immigration-requirements/nicky-benson. Web.
3. Riis, Jacob. "VIII. The Cheap Lodging-Houses". www.bartleby.com/208/8.html. Web.
Assignment #2
In China, my father and mother had low paying jobs and they were always working tirelessly. However, although they worked very hard, they did not have the funds to give my sister a proper high school and college education. This made my parents miserable because they wanted my sister to be successful and happy, so that she doesn’t have to struggle looking for a job and live a miserable life. Therefore, after having talked to some friends, they heard that America was a place where they would be able to live a better life with better wages. This motivated my family to take a chance in order to see whether the rumors were true.
After arriving in America, they were very nervous because the streets were packed and everyone was busy with their jobs. As my father and mother were looking for a job, it was not easy for them since they were immigrants, who did not speak english, but rather chinese. Therefore, they decided to talk to people who spoke the same language as themselves. This helped them develop connections with other Chinese people, allowing my father to learn how to become an electrician. In addition, my mother was also taught how to use machines in the textile factory. Therefore, not only did they get to work, but they were taught how to effectively perform in their jobs.
Not only did my parents get a decent pay for their work, but my sister also received a free education at a Franklin D. Roosevelt high school. In China, education was expensive, but it was shocking for my parents to see that education here in high school was free. This really made my parents happy because they were able to give my sister a better education, so that she can pursue her passion. Also, with the money, they were able to get a lot of health services for me, so that I can mature well as a baby. With better healthcare and prices, my parents had the opportunity to take care of me while working in America.
While my parents had jobs and my sister had an education, life was still not easy in America because there was always competition for jobs. Therefore, my mother and father had to learn how to become better at speaking English and develop their skills in their jobs, so they do not risk being fired, which would jeopardize our finances.
Regardless of all the struggles my parents still had to face in America, the transition from China to here was completely worth it. Although my parents had exposure to America without knowing English or the atmosphere, they were able to work hard as everyone else in order to obtain better opportunities. If we had stayed in China, we would probably be miserable and living in poverty since there were not many opportunities for the poor. However, America has given my family the chance to be happy and prosper, allowing us to pursue our dreams.
My Family
Midterm
Part 1
During the trip to Whitney Museum of American Art, one interesting artwork that immediately stood out to me was Tall Snowman by Calvin Marcus. It was created in Los Angeles and then later transported to New York in 2019. This is a picture painted on canvas, depicting a tall curved snowman that was built during the winter time. When I first saw this picture, I was extremely confused because I questioned whether it was possible for such a snowman to curve without falling apart, which made this artwork very intriguing to explore.
When discussing this work of art, I would love to first explore the subject matter of this painting. In this piece, there is a snowman that is built from piles of snow layered on top of each other. Also, at the halfway mark of the snowman’s body, the snowman is curve downward. After the snowman is curved, the face of the snowman appears to be looking at the audience while it is upside down. Moreover, the landscape is filled with snow, blue sky, and a tree without leaves, indicating that it takes place in the winter time. These elements help the audience challenge whether this image was realistic or not based on the landscape and position of the snowman.
Tall Snowman by Calvin Marcus 2019
After looking at the subject matter, it is important to recognize the compositional elements that Marcus used to create this work of art, such as format. As I look at the format of this painting, I notice that this is a portrait with a vertical rectangular shape. By incorporating a portrait size of the painting, we would view the snowman realistically similar to a profile view of a person. Moreover, this brings more attention and focus onto the snowman because the portrait allows the audience to see the enormous tall height of the snowman, making it an important focal point.
Another important element that Marcus implements in his work of art is his use of vinyl paint to develop the surface. Since vinyl paint is a water-based paint, it soaks into the surface of the material, making the colors and material hard to remove as the water sticks onto the painting. By using this type of paint, Marcus can show the audience a modern look of the snowman, which appears captivating rather than outdated. Furthermore, he also uses this paint to make the colors appear bold, which adds onto the child-like perspective of this image. Therefore, he is able to make the painting appear more modernized and playful, causing the audience to debate whether this type of painting was realistic or not.
While Marcus uses vinyl paint to efficiently convey his art, he also used this paint to draw concise and clear lines to help the audience distinguish each object. For example, on the snowman, there are enclosed round and circular shapes, helping the audience identify them as big snowballs layered on top of each other. Moreover, on the snowman’s face, there are circular shapes for the eyes, triangular shape for the nose, and several rectangular shapes to indicate a scarf on his neck. Not only do these clear lines help the audience distinguish the pieces of the snowman, but they also help them recognize the landscape better. For example, in the upper top of the painting, there is a horizontal line, which shows the divide between the ground and the sky. Furthermore, on top of this line, there is an intersection of smaller rectangular lines, allowing the audience to understand that there is a tree with branches. Therefore, with these lines, the audience can better understand the objects in the painting better.
As these different colors help highlight the unique details of the painting, the shading also contributes to our understanding of realism in this painting. For example, when I look at the bottom of the painting, I notice the shadows on the snowy ground, which represents a silhouette of the snowman. Not only that, but I also recognize shadows on the face of the snowman, showing that there are objects above the face, adding to the volume and space in the painting. Lastly, there are also shadows beneath the horizontal line, highlighting a sense of size and volume of the tree and the trunks. The use of shadows here helps the audience believe that these objects are real, which adds to the influence of this image.
Marcus also shows this realism through his painting by focusing on illusionistic space, revealing an illusion of depth in the painting. This can be seen through the scaling of each object in the painting. For instance, the bottom piles of the snowman appear very big on the bottom left of the picture. However, the upper snowman piles are scaled smaller in comparison. This difference in scale shows that the upper piles of snow of the snowman is farther away, creating a sense of distance, making it appear realistic. Moreover, one interesting note that I notice from the painting is that the tree is smaller than the snowman. This is interesting because it shows that the tree is very far away from the snowman in the artist’s point of view.
The implementation of scale and proportion is also an important factor of showing us where to look. Since the piles of snow are scaled to be the biggest in the picture, our eyes initially look at the piles of snow from bottom to top of the painting. By doing this, we continue this trend until we have a picture of how the snowman looks. However, in the painting, the tree appears small compared to the snowman in the artist’s perspective. As a result, the artist wants the audience to focus more on the snowman since its size is relatively bigger than the tree. Therefore, the sizes of different shapes cause the audience to look at the bottom piles of the snowman first, then to the upper body of the snowman, and finally to the tree.
In conclusion, Marcus utilized a multitude of composition elements in order to captivate our attention and make us question whether or not such a snowman that he drew exists in the modern world. By using techniques that make the snowman and landscape modern and realistic, the audience is challenged into thinking if everything is real. When the audience sees the curved snowman, they may think that the artist is playing tricks on them, which makes this painting very interesting and controversial to talk about.
Not only do the lines help the audience to decipher the objects, but the colors also help the audience have a better understanding of the context in the image. As the audience look at the bottom piles of snow, they notice that there is a mix of white and grey colors in them. However, as the audience look up at the upper piles of snow, they will notice that there is only a presence of white color. This suggests that the bottom of the snowman was touched many times while the upper part of the snowman was left mainly untouched. This is also represented in the ground of the painting since there is a mix of grey and white, indicating that there were people traveling and passing by this area. There are also a variety of distinct colors shown in one particular pile of snow, such as grey, orange, brown, and black, helping the audience better recognize the buttons, carrot, scarf, and tree sticks of the upper body of the snowman. This is also prevalent in the landscape, where the colors of brown, grey, and blue help us distinguish the tree, snow, and sky in the background. Since most of the painting is encompassed by a color of white, these distinct colors allows the audience to focus more attention to the smaller and unique details of the painting.
Part 2
Anne Goldthwaite, 1930, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection,
Smithsonian American Art Museum J0001675
Anne Goldthwaite was an American painter and print maker, who was born in Montgomery in Alabama in June 28, 1869. As she showed great interests in painting and drawing in her early life, her uncle, Henry Goldthwaite, supported her financially and gave her an opportunity to study art at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1896 for the next six years. After gaining artistic experience, she moved to Paris in 1906 to study Fauvism and Cubism in art. By chance, she was able to meet Gertrude Stein, who exposed her to many modernist artists, which eventually sparked her deep interest in modernism.
In the 20th century, American modernism is an artistic and cultural movement in the United States, where people could express their feelings and opinions towards modern life with industrialization. By having a connection to Gertrude Stein, Goldthwaite was able to meet many modernists, such as Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. Under their influence, she was able to make her brushwork more fluid and implement realism through abstract modernist works.
After the end of World War 1, Goldthwaite resumed her life in New York and began to develop more modernized work of arts. During this time, industrialization was very prevalent and essential for the economy. As a result, there were many people seeking for jobs in factories, especially women and children. However, while women and children had more jobs, they were still treated unfairly by men. In fact, they had low wages, high number of work hours, and no right to vote. By noticing this situation for women, Goldthwaite was inspired to create modern works of arts in order to promote women's activism.
Goldthwaite also used simplification and portraits for her work of arts to help the audience better understand her support for women’s rights. By making the objects appear simple, the audience can decipher the images and who they possibly are. Not only that, but since she utilized portraits for some of her work of arts, the audience focuses more attention onto the characters in the scene, rather than the background or landscape. Therefore, by paying more attention to the characters in the art, a mood is developed for the audience. This mood is dependent on the smaller details of the characters, such as gestures, movement, and expressions to help the audience better understand the artist’s perspective.
While she was able to able to create impactful images through realism and modern style, she decided to broaden her works of arts in order to captivate a bigger audience for women’s rights movement. For example, since people were heavily interested in New Yorks Giants baseball game, she was able to design her own suffrage banner for that event. These big events that people enjoyed heavily influence her to create a variety of modern art to appeal to the interests of a bigger audience in New York.
As she continued her career as an artist in the 1920s, she also became an instructor at the Arts Students League. By constantly educating her students about different styles of work of arts, including hers, she was able to inspire more people to follow the modernist movement. Not only did she have a great influence on her students, but she was also learning from other artists in the academic field. This developed her interest and passion in art as she implemented new techniques in her paintings to strengthen her influence on others towards women’s rights.
In order to create art to show the importance of women, Golthwaite used a technique called lithography in order to show the realism of her images. Lithography is the process of printing from a flat surface with the use of oil and water. By using this technique, Goldthwaite was able to showcase her art to a numerous amount of audience, creating more influence on society’s cultural views on women. For example, in one of her works of arts, her daughter, the colors are mainly black and white and light yellow with the inclusion of oil in the painting. By using these elements, Goldthwaite was able to create a serious effect on the audience, causing them to reflect on the importance of women from this image of a mother taking care of her child. Moreover, by trying to make the characters realistic through her modernized style of art, she was able to help the audience develop a connection between art and reality , making it impactful during the female activism movement.
Moreover, Goldthwaite also used this style to convey her interests to support the African Women in South too. Since she was born and raised in the South, she was able to witness the slavery that many African Women had to undergo before World War 1. After the end of the war, Goldthwaite continued to utilize her modern art style to highlight the struggles that African Women had to go through in the South. Although slavery was abolished, racism was prevalent through the implementation of Jim Crow Laws, which denied many of the rights of the African American men and women. By creating impactful paintings, such as, Negro Women at a Fountain, Golthwaite is able to continue educating people and gather support for women overall.
Her daughter by Anne Goldthwaite
Negro women by Anne Goldthwaite
Work Cited Page
Goldthwaite, Anne. "Her Daughter". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of Adelyn D. Breeskin. 1968. Americanart. Web. www.americanart.si.edu/artwork/her-daughter-9247
ELISABETH, LUTHER C. "PICTURES AND QUALITY: EXHIBIT OF WORK DONE BY EUGENE SPEICHER IN LAST THREE YEARS--ANNE GOLDTHWAITE." New York Times (1923-Current file), Jan 06, 1929, pp. 124. ProQuest, https://jerome.stjohns.edu/login??url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/104756929?accountid=14068.
Whitney Museum Gallery