Going Back to Archaic Greece :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Going Back to Archaic Greece   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Amasis Painter seemed to lure me into his world while reading these works compiled by these very prolific writers. Or maybe it was the writers that brought me back to experience what they felt while studying these paintings and giving up their thoughts to question as they questioned others. In either case it has sparked my interest in this painter, and potter if you will. He combines a perfectionistic attitude with an imaginative flare that is subtle and refined, giving him that contrasting edge that one looks for in an artist. I would first like to start with a look at these artists status in the Athenian Greek world. How did they become artists and how did they live as artists? One might suspect that you need just to turn to the old adage of the â€Å"starving artist†, to get a good idea of what it was like, but I hardly think they were starving or even poor for that matter. Of course I wouldn’t suspect that they were very well off at what they were doing, but they probably didn’t do to bad. In fact I look at Pedley and what he says that, â€Å"vase painting †¦ is the product of private enterprise†(Pedly p 77). This gives me speculation that the vase painters in Archaic Greece might have been sufficiently paid for their services. I get a sense of secure ness of who he is and what he’s doing with his paintings and his pots for that matter. If he does do both it would cut out another hand in the trading deal that would no doubt increase the size of his share. Also by doing this he has total control over the whole making of the vase itself, which shows in the way he presents the figures spatially and sometimes even simply in his works Something that adds to that of course is competition between artists, especially between Exekias and Amasis. These two were the closest in style, and were probably the most sought after painters of their time. A specific vase by Exekias has Memnon with two African attendants naming one of them Amasis. One can conjecture that there stands a good chance that he may be speaking of his colleague. Whether this is derogative towards Amasis in some way, maybe through his heritage, who knows, it shows competition either way.