Information System In Allied Bank

Information System In Allied Bank Allied bank was the first bank to be established in Pakistan. It started out in Lahore by the name Australasia Bank before independence in 1942; was renamed Allied Bank of Pakistan Limited in 1974 and then Allied Bank Limited in 2005. Allied Bank was the first Muslim bank to have been established in Pakistan. Established in December 1942 as the Australasia Bank in Lahore with a paid-up share capital of Rs. 0.12 million under the Chairmanship of Khawaja Bashir Bux, the Bank attracted deposits equivalent to Rs. 0.431 million in its first eighteen months of business. Today, with its existence of over 60 years, the Bank has built itself a foundation with a strong equity, assets and deposit base. At the time, the Banks total assets amounted to Rs. 0.572 million. Today, Allied Banks paid up Capital Reserves amount to Rs. 10.5 billion, deposits exceed Rs. 143 billion and total assets equal Rs. 170 billion. It offers universal banking services, while placing major emphasis on retail banking. The Bank also has the largest network of over 800 online branches in Pakistan and offers various technology-based products and services to its diverse clientele. Vision: To become a dynamic and efficient bank providing integrated solutions and the first choice of bank for all customers. Mission: To provide high tech innovative solutions to meet customer requirements To create sustainable value through growth, efficiency and diversity for all stake holders To provide a challenging work environment, and reward dedicated team members To play a proactive role in contributing towards the society Values: Integrity Excellence in service High performance Innovation and growth Areas of Business: Allied bank is operating in all major cities of Pakistan. It has a network of 700 branches. Information Systems at Allied Bank Limited Information systems used at ABL differ from department to department and complete specifications of systems used in Customer Retail Banking Department will be mentioned in the later part of the report however, the IS used in Allied bank serves the common purpose of faster communication between all stake holders, updating of transactions process on daily basis, provision of better customer service, faster execution of data, easier access and communication to the central branch and other branches countrywide etc. However, Allied Bank used manual systems before 2002. The reasons for making the shift to automated information systems are summarized below: The need for converting from manual to automated systems: Personnel at Allied Bank are of the view that both manual and automated systems are effective ways of message entry and transmission but manual data systems have certain cons as compared to their counterpart the automated data systems. Manual data systems are slow and tedious as compared to automated systems. Moreover, there are more chances of human error occurring in the usage of manual systems as compared to automated systems and this error removing is crucial to the efficient functioning of the Allied Bank. Moreover, manual data systems are less secure and tampering with data is possible via their use and to minimize that risk Allied bank shifted to the use of automated Data systems in 2002. Moreover, Mr. Shahzad Shahid, Product Manager-Liabilities, was of the view that this change will result in cost reduction in the long run. Management Information System used at ABL The MIS used at Allied bank Limited is Oracle Database 10g. Oracle Data base 10g has completely transformed the outlook and operations of ABL. It has transformed the structure such that now ABLs IS does not consist of fragmented machineries working individually to attain goals but they now function as a fused collection of servers, storage devices, and systems to meet the changing processing needs of ABL. This resulted in dramatic cost reduction, overall efficiency and enhancement in the quality of customer service. It has also reduced hardware costs by efficient networking and amalgamating of functions performed by various servers and systems. Cost reduction also took place because Oracle 10g eliminated the need for the purchases and upgrading of management softwares and tools and third party interventions as it was a complete management solution in itself. Oracle 10g also enabled Allied Bank Limited in efficient and wider data base storage, high and faster accessibility of data, faster performance, secure data transferring and cheaper application development. Salient features of Oracle 10g from which ABL is benefiting from are described below in great detail:  [1]   Oracle 10g served as a very attractive investment for Allied Bank Limited as it cut down significant costs of Allied Bank on hardware because Oracle 10g provide the technology of Oracle Real Application Clusters which enabled the creation of communication clusters via use of just 3-4 PCs which become more easier to administer and run and are more efficient as compared to functioning of sole systems. Oracle 10g also enabled Allied Bank to cut down its costs on storage devices which prove to be a big cost for banks to store humongous amounts of daily transactions and data. However, this problem was solved by the use of Oracles automatic storage management which not only enabled the pooling of PCs but also enabled pooling of storage devices to the communication cluster as per required. This choice of addition of storage devices to clusters made the data transformation, collection and storage cheaper, easier and efficient. Oracle 10g has enabled Allied bank to save on its database management costs as its database administration is either completely automatic or much uncomplicated. This has enabled Allied bank to save its costs on the training of new database managers. Oracle 10g has its own cluster administration softwares which monitor, manage the performance of clusters and thus eliminates the needs for extra utility and program softwares. Oracle uses Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control and Management Packs to monitor clusters performance efficiently. Oracle 10g uses GUI tools and utilities for increasing the power and efficiency of the clusters. Oracle 10g also introduces self-administration in the databases through use of programs such as Automatic Storage Management, Automatic Memory Management, Automatic Optimizer Statistics Collection, Automatic Workload Repository, Automatic Database Diagnostics Monitor, Automatic SQL Tuning, Segment Advisor, Automatic Workload Management, Automatic Disk-Based Backup and Recovery to meet the changing processing, data transforming and storing demands. Thus, Allied Bank has benefited greatly from its shift from Manual systems to the automated Oracle 10g system. The benefits reaped are unparalleled in terms of cost reduction, efficiency, data disseminating and decision making. Allied Bank in addition to the use of Oracle 10g uses softwares such as Unibank, however it is planning to change its banking software from Unibank to Temenos t-24 in the mid of 2010. Shift from Unibank to Temenos T-24 When Allied bank shifted to automated Information Systems in 2002, it started using softwares such as UNIBANK .This software held answers to the management of all the chaos created by the use of manual systems.  [2]  Unibank was a branch centric cash management software which held answers to the banking problems of the time thus it was called the core banking solution. Unibank gave faster and safe electronic access to banking transactions and functions. Unibank enabled Allied Bank to: Evaluate the latest record of all account transactions taking place in the branch Exchange information with other departments of the branch such as finance and accounting Monitoring and management of deposits and withdrawals simultaneously Electronic transfer of data from one branch to another Provision of e-statements for the employees making their jobs easier. Secure data control and transfer. Electronic monitoring and management of employee payrolls Need for Temenos T-24 Although Unibank seemed to be the answer to all the banking problems at that time however due to changing technological trends, higher uncertainty in the environment, shift towards centralized functioning and policies, Allied Bank has decided to shift from Unibank to Temenos T-24. The reason being that, Unibank was branch centric software and due to this reason data could be lost or misplaced if server crashed at any particular branch. Moreover, considering the uncertain political situation in Pakistan, there was high possibility of raids and fires and due to this the threat of data loss was eminent thus a shift is being planned and implemented from Unibank to Temenos T-24 as we speak. This shift will be implemented in all the branches countrywide within a period of 6 months. The reason for shifting to Temenos T-24 is that it is centralized software with the central server in Kashmir Road Branch in Lahore. This central server acts as a hub and daily transmissions are not only recorded in branches but in the central hub too, thus making the information more secure. Moreover, designated user ids/passwords, bio-metric systems add to the security of information. All the transactions and operation take place in real time. Policies are designed at the central server in Lahore and are applicable to all the branches country wide thus making the operations uniform and consistent in all the branches.  [3]   Temenos T-24 in addition to providing all the functions that Unibank provided, offers a more secure platform and new and efficient data bases. Moreover, Temenos T-24 is partners with Microsoft and has adopted MS platform to make the functioning of the software more user-friendly and easy. Moreover, one of the reasons for adopting Temenos T24 by ABL is that its cost of owner ship is very cheap as compared to the benefits it provides. Moreover, it uses established programs such as HTTP, XML so that functioning it not an entirely new experience but adds on to the previous knowledge of the employees. Moreover, it has an edge over Unibank as it eliminates the need for end-of-day banking and is a true 24/7 banking system, which heaves away burden from the employees and enables employees and customers to access updated information at all times. Department: Commercial and Retail Banking Overview The Commercial Retail Banking Group (CRBG) offers a variety of asset and liability-based retail products to its customers. The Groups main focus has been on introducing various financing and investment products for its valuable clients, and contributing to the steady growth of the financial industry. CRBG consists of 4 geographic groups and is further divided across 27 regions in Pakistan. Each region is responsible for providing a quality service to its own customer-base. In recent years, the Group has been working to find alternate ways to bank for customers, and has installed more ATMs to its already strong and largest ATM network. The department offers the following product and services to its customers Internet Banking Online Banking Profit Rates ATM Network Unclaimed Deposits Deposit Account SME Agriculture Other Services Corporate Leasing The department has a total of 6000 employees all over Pakistan, the information flow and the data transfer rate thus is very high and poses a great challenge for the Information System of the department to maintain and keep it secure. Functional Hierarchy of the Department Technical specifications Allied Bank after its privatization has been following a pro I.T policy. The switch from the manual system to a more automated Information System requires certain infrastructure (PCs, Softwares etc) and ABL in this regard didnt compromise on quality; they have a contract with Digital World Pakistan Pvt. Ltd. (DWP) to provide state of the art computers with the best softwares to run the M.I.S system. The CRBG dept of ABL has the following I.T infrastructure: Hardware Specifications Personal computers- 14 in total Consisting of 9 desktop PCs and 5 laptops Desktop PCs Specs: Intel Pentium 4 2.5ghz, 512MB RAM, 80 GB hard-disk Laptop PCs Specifications: Intel Dual Core2 2Ghz, 2gb RAM, 160GB Hard-disk HP Printers 3 in total 2 HP LaserJet 1010 Colored Printers, 1 HP Desk-jet Black and white printer HP Digital Scanner IBM P5 Mainframe Server Specifications: Four 1.65GHz 64-bit POWER5 processors L2 cache: 1.9MB (2-way); 3.8MB (4-way) L3 cache: 36MB (2-way); 72MB (4-way) 32GB of 266MHz DDR1 memory Two 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports Optional 2 Gigabit Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 4x InfiniBand ® adapters Two USB, two HMC and two system ports Software Specifications Application Software CRBG department Employees uses the following application softwares; Microsoft Office 2007 2010 McAfee Anti-Virus 2010 Adobe Reader 8 System Software The departments computers were found to be using the following system softwares; Operating System: Windows XP for Desk-top PCs and Windows Vista for the Laptops. Windows NT server for mainframe server. Core Banking Solution The software currently in use is UNIBANK, however T24 has been introduced in one branch in LAHORE. Query Software ABL employees generate queries through these softwares, for example if I want to view a customers demographics I will put in a query in the Discoverer Viewer which will then seek the data from the Central Database Discoverer Viewer It is just for viewing of data, Discoverer PLUS The queries here can even be edited and employees have limited access to this software Network Type Allied bank is using the client/server network because the employees easily share the data and its cheaper than others and maintainable. All the data is saved in Central Database (CBS) and employees can easily access it. This type of computing system provides an easy access and efficient flow of data, which increase the functionality of organization. End-User and training In this era of cut-throat competition and diminishing profit margins Banks are becoming more lean, service oriented and efficient. As mentioned before Banks in order to keep this trend of efficiency going upward are adopting new information systems and updating the existing ones however one barrier to this are the employees, there is already a shortage of computer literate people in Pakistan and for this reason when new softwares or In our case a new CORE BANKNG SOLUTION is introduced it requires rigorous training session to train the employees so that they are able to use the software. The effectiveness of core banking systems is directly related to the skills and knowledge of those operating them; therefore training is an essential investment and not an expense. The training session have been divided into three stages When we talk of the end user its the employees themselves here, they use the information available and make different queries accordingly as mentioned before currently the Core Banking Solution (CBS) namely Unibank is being change to Temenos and this requires that the support and operations staff be trained to use this CBS. For this reason different training sessions have been organized by the Bank and the Temenos technical team itself. Apart from this Temenos, to support the contracted BANKS, also provides the following courses to their employees: Open Training Courses Bespoke Training courses End User Training (EUT) Training consultancy for design and development of EUT courses eLearning and Computer Based Training (CBT) The Train the Trainer approach The benefits of attending these training programs include dedicated premises and training equipment, and the added advantage of minimizing interruptions for the duration of training course. Information Intakes and Flow CRBG has information flow daily from all over Pakistan, the department has the responsibility to effectively manage the liabilities of the Bank. The information accessible by this department through the Information system includes: Daily Monitoring of Deposits The deposits intakes and off takes during the day Maintaining a minimum balance of funds ATM monitoring Monitoring the downtime of each ATM Monitoring which area has a consistent network/server issues Customer Demographics ABLs information system is linked to NADRAs system for verification of Customers IDs CRBG has access to all the information of its customers and employees as it is responsible for managing the liabilities section Account Opening Run Rate The accounts opened each day along with their balances Employee Check in Check out time Through monitoring of this data employee efficiency can also be measured. Query Regarding an Employee Employee Record Information Flow We observe TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM functional in this department apart from the Office Automation Systems, all the activities and transactions done throughout the chain of command in this department is recorded first at the Branch level then after EODs (End of Day) are Run all the data of that days transactions are transferred to the ORACLE CENTRAL DATABASE located in ABL HEAD-QUARTERS LAHORE. Real-time Monitoring is being done of this information flow by the department, once the days information is saved in the ORACLE CENTRAL DATABASE in their respected fields and tables, it can be accessed through the DISCOVERER VIEWER/PLUS Software the next day by creating a query for it. Issues with the Information System To function effectively as an interacting, interrelated, and interdependent feeDatabase Administratorck tool for management and staff, MIS must be useable. The five elements of a useable MIS system are: timeliness, accuracy, consistency, completeness, and relevance. The usefulness of MIS is hindered whenever one or more of these elements are compromised. The IS at Allied Bank, although effective to a great extent, has certain weaknesses as we found out: From a branch centered approach, the bank has moved to a centralized system. Transactions at the branches, previously used to be stored and processed at the branches only. It was only at the day end, that all data and information was relayed to the head office. Now, however, this practice has changed. Branches only facilitate interactions with customers, whereas the information is directly send to the head office and is processed there in real time. The problem with this is the time lag that results subsequently. Data flow from the point of transaction to the head office, back to the point of transaction is a longer and hence a slower process. Also the security procedures inbuilt in the new software, Temenos, make processing slower. In the new IS, cash transactions taking place go from a Temenos account head to a buffer account and then to the customers account. Previously, the cash transactions were directly debited/ credited to the customer account. Buffer accounts created, although increase the overall security; make the processing of data slower. Too much reliance on information systems also means that in the scenario when server crashes down, or gets hanged, banking transactions will be completely disrupted. Security Measures and Backup One of the major concerns of organizations using information technology to carry out their business processes is how to secure the data against internal and external threats. With modern advancements, mitigating information security threats has become an ongoing battle. Viruses, worms, hacker attacks, spam, phishing, and instant messaging attacks are just some of the problems. Data bank faces risk of security breaches not only at the hands of customers and outsiders, but also from the employees working within the organization. Therefore it is highly crucial to build security parameters to detect whatsoever threats there might be and also to ensure data safety. At Allied Bank, data security is the thing that cannot be compromised at all. For this reason, the MIS department has taken stringent measures to ensure data security. The Corporate and Retail Department which deals primarily in confidential data of bank customers has taken numerous steps to avert security threats. Employees have individual Ids and passwords that they use to log-in to the system database. But this does not mean that all the employees have same access to the data and information. There are proper hierarchy levels: which implies that there are gatekeepers at each level, supervising who access what data! Password protection is there to prevent just everybody from viewing confidential data. Moreover, Allied Bank uses SSL certified encryption to secure its data channels. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is used in the protection of online transactions with customers. Encryption of data exchanged by customers and the bank ensures that data security, even if breached on its way, will make decrypting and understanding the data difficult. Anti-virus and anti-spam packages like McAfee Anti-Virus are also installed to secure data against viruses, spam, etc. There is also a Disaster Recovery System in place, in case of fire, raids, and other unforeseen and unexpected events. The backups are stored at both hot and cold sites. The head office in Lahore is the hot site. It is the central database of Allied Bank where all the transactions taking place in the eight hundred or so branches are recorded and updated on a real time basis. The cold sites are at the twenty seven regional offices all over Pakistan. These cold sites are updated at appropriate intervals, on a weekly basis sometimes. In accordance with the State Bank of Pakistan regulation, data and information of three years is stored and maintained at these cold sites. Also, USBs are widely used as potable storage devices. Future Plans Allied bank is planning to replace the current Core Business Solution Uni Bank with Temenos. This transformation is in its phase I. The software is being tested in one branch near the Head Office in Lahore. This testing phase will end on June 30th. Training of employees is being conducted and further more sessions are in the pipeline Allied bank plans to introduce Temenos in 107 branches out of the whole network of 800 braches within six months. Implementation in further branches is still unplanned. Allied Bank has opened its branch in Kashmir and plans to extend its network and reach in the remote areas of the country. Recommendations The disaster recovery system at Allied Bank is inappropriate to bear the load of 800 branches. There is one common hot site of all the branches at the Head Office and cold sites at the regional offices, 27 in number. But we feel that these backups are too less, keeping the current security scenario in view where banks have even been raided and burned by mobs. Therefore the backups should be set up at places other than the bank branches. The training period for a batch of 50 people is three weeks on average. We feel that this is insufficient as the new banking system Temenos has far complex procedures as the user interface is not friendly. Proper temperature controls are needed for the server to operate efficiently. We feel that the current infrastructure is insufficient to support the system. References http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/topics/0,295493,sid14_tax299811,00.html http://tldp.org/HOWTO/SSL-Certificates-HOWTO/x64.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_recovery http://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10241 http://www.occ.treas.gov/handbook/mis.pdf http://www.temenos.com http://www.abl.com.pk http://www.oracle.com

Database Environment Paper Essay

After 45 minutes of walking through the cummers museum and realizing that Jacksonville is home to four beautiful museums. These museums will not only captivate you but also tell you a story in history. By understanding this I walk through the commer museum in amazement but being from a IT background my mind soon begin to wonder how do they keep track all of these beautiful works of art. I mean there’s things that have to be taken into consideration. In example who is the artist, the location where the art is display, can it be or is it on loan, the year the artist created the artwork. After thinking about this for a few minutes a database popped in to my mind. A database management system can easily do all of these things and more. A museum can choose a variety of databases to complete this task but just for explanation purposes we’re going to use Microsoft access to help us understand how a database can complete the task of tracking the artwork and giving us an accurat e account and location. Let’s keep in mind while we are designing and building the database three words; real, conceptual, and representations if we keep these three keywords at the forefront of our design we will design a usable and efficient database. Simply put the design of a database is to define the structure of data that can be queried and give out meaningful information to the end-user. And will design database also allows for easy maintenance and upkeep. With over 5000 works of arts in the cummers museum there’s a lot of data that has to be enter into access on the front and ongoing in order for the museum to be able to used the software. But in order to do this we must first understand how the data or where the data is entered in Microsoft access. Data is stored in what is called a tables, each table consists of data about a specific subject in example; painters name, date art was created, location ,Address, zip code,  city. By putting data in a table that is specific it allows for changing of data in specific table and it will automatically populating throughout the whole database. This also allows for different types of queriers making the database efficient. Let also look at what is a query. A query is a search by the end users which displays usable information. A query can sometimes and most time often will also display subsets of data as well. The subsets of the table is referred to as A field or as an attribute. To understand this a little better you can think about the squares in Microsoft excel those squares are fields and/or attributes is a place with database tables used to store one piece of given data. When entering data into a table or A field is called an entry. An entry is data that needs to be tracked. Now the question how can all of this information help the museum track there artwork. When billing the initial database you can one can use the artwork name as the interest in the fields or attributes can be the artist name the date the artist created the piece of artwork artwork that exactly where the artwork is located inside the singing is the artwork being load out or is it all from another museum what does the museum that peace of artwork. After entering all of the fields and tables we can then run a ERD report to help us see how the database is coming along by doing so were able to see from it overview what tables relate to what and in sure that all of the tables that need to t alk to each other are doing so. It is easy to see if you museum created a database as explained above that you can effortlessly track each keys of work. References What is a Database. (2011). Retrieved from http://databases.about.com/od/specificproducts/a/whatisadatabase.htm What Is Database Architecture. (2003-2014). Retrieved from http://degreedirectory.org/articles/What_is_Database_Architecture.html Coronel, C., Morris, S., & Rob, P. (2013 ). Database Systems (10th ed.). : Cengage Learning

Before and After the Cellphone Essay

Cellphones have gradually become an imperative part of peoples lives today. 70% of the world’s population have cellphones. These days, people and their mobile phones seem to be inseparable. Texting or calling someone when we wake up has become a usual habit just like brushing our teeth in the morning. For many of us, it’s hard to imagine a time before cellphones. Having a cellphone has changed our manners, the way we communicate, and our safety. Before cellphones there seemed to be more peace and quite. People seemed to have manners. Today people don’t always remember their manners when using their cellphones. People constantly carrying on personal conversations in a public place can be very annoying. Some people talk really loud and don’t care that everyone around them can hear every word they are saying. It can be extremely disturbing to someone when they are walking in a mall or down a street and someone starts speaking right beside or behind them. They turn to respond, only to find out he or she beside them has an earbud active. Before we had cellphones people would actually write letters. During my elementary school days it was â€Å"cool† to pass notes. We actually used complete sentences and words that were in the dictionary. Also before cellphones if someone was to leave the house, they didn’t make a phone call unless they popped 10 cents into a pay phone. People never received any calls away from home. People actually had to be out of touch with friends and family when they weren’t at home. Now that we have cell phones letters are rarely sent. Today note passing is rare. If kids want to communicate during school they simply just shoot each other a text message. Also, today if someone is to leave the house, making a phone call is easy. With a quick dial on a cellphone people can make a call at any time. Cellphones have not only changed the way we communicate but they have changed our safety. Texting and driving has become common and has caused many deaths in the United States. It was reported in 2005 that cellphone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year. Another safety issue with cellphones is privacy. Say someone’s at an airport, or on the bus. Several people are on their cellphones, some talking business, and others talking about personal information. Any information shared has now become available to anyone else who might have been around to hear their phone call. Others may now know their address, information about their family, or financial records. Before cellphones life were more safe. Before cell phones people didn’t have to constantly worry about someone overhearing their conversation. Also people didn’t have to worry about others driving them off the road because of the careless mistake of texting while driving. The cellphone is loved by many and hated by the few for ruining society. Although cellphones have changed society I have a hard time imagining my life without one. Cellphones have had a major impact on our lives and have vastly changed our manners, the way we communicate and our safety. Many of these changes are apparent, while others we may not even be aware of.

Art History 21 - 1750 Words

1. Discuss the impact of photography on the nineteenth-century landscape. How did it affect painting? What were the political implications of the medium? Use examples to support your essay. Landscape painting was a particularly effective vehicle for allegory because it allowed artists to make fictional subjects appear normal, conditioned, acceptable, or destined. Art was not just about the landscape, it actually allowed the spirit of the painter to come alive in their work. The allegory was for moral and spiritual concerns. The introduction to photography therefore impacted 19th century landscape in a manner that was found to be unacceptable because personal intertwinement of expression and emotion could not come from photography.†¦show more content†¦Constable is representing this environment in his canvas by portraying the oneness that once was had with nature. Bierstadt’s canvas is the basis of manifest destiny of the United States. Albert Bierstadt furthermore presented Romantic panoramic landscape views that also participated in the continuous exploration of the individual’s and the country’s relationship to the land. He focused on identifying qualities that rendered America unique, which was part of the manifest destiny. The sunrays attempting to break through the clouds are further support of the manifest destiny suggesting the heavenly light shining through on a portion of the land (uncultivated and wild) is awaiting the people. His canvas is focused on the Western part of the country to create attention of the uniqueness of the regions that need be discovered, that expansion throughout the country was the logical destiny for the United States. The primary and most important difference between the underlining meaning of the two pieces of art respective to their countries and environment is the building and destr uction of lifestyle. Constable’s piece is brought upon by the environment lose many farmers faced at the time, while Bierstadt expresses enthusiasm to build and create farm-life in new found lands of the United States. Each piece, once brought together, represents both aspects of expansions, the losing and theShow MoreRelatedThe Reflection Of Edouard Manet Painting A Bar At The Folies Bergere1465 Words   |  6 Pageshas been a piece of artwork that has been debated among art historians for over a century; the painting is perplexing due to its ambiguous cultural meaning and therefore creates a discussion between art historians. A Bar at the Folies-Bergà ¨r deludes the spectator when first looked at, as if there is no uncertainty but then with further observation gives a sense of doubtfulness (Harland et al. 2). As one can imagine, countless amounts of art historians throughout the world have created their own interpretationsRead MoreEssay about Willem de Kooning1526 Words   |  7 Pagesfriends was the poet, art critic, and MOMA Curator, Frank OHara. O’Hara considered de Kooning one of the three or four greatest painters of the twentieth century. He idolized de Kooning and was deeply influenced by de Kooning over their relationship. (Stevens 484) One of OHaras great poems about de Koonings work was Ode to Willem de Kooning (Appendix A). At the time of writing the poem, the powerful critic Clement Greenberg would have suggested that only a trained, restrained art criticism with aRead MoreRelationship Between Religion and Art in Medieval, Renaissance and Contemporary Times2657 Words   |  11 Pagesold belief that a perfect soul meant a perfect outward appearance (Smart 122). She is famous and celebrated, and is visited by Christians from every nation. In another part of the world, The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili resides in the Brooklyn Art Museum. It is a painting of Mary atop a pile of elephant feces, the Virgin herself made with the same substance, while surrounded by cutouts from pornographic magazines. The work has stirred much controversy but today still sits in the museum for theRead MoreMurillos Representations of Seville2000 Words   |  8 Pagesreligious works, which offer intimate and tender portrayals of important Biblical subjects. Conversely, he paints the faces of young street urchins and fruit sellers with the same softness and delicacy as he does the Virgin Mary or the Christ Child. In an art historical context, Spain has been described as â€Å"the classic land of brutal observation, of the ‘slice taken from life’ served up raw and bleeding.† His immediate predecessors, including masters like Diego Velà ¡zquez and Francisco Zurbarà ¡n, embracedRead MoreThe Impact of Renaissance on the P resent1204 Words   |  5 Pages Some of the more influential elements of everyday modern life are the result of cultural and societal changing events, which transpired throughout the years 1350-1600. During the period known today as the â€Å"Renaissance† (1350-1600), the world of art, the boundaries of marriage, and secular viewpoints were forever revolutionized, through the development and spread of â€Å"Renaissance Humanism†, which today, still affects modern day life. (Knox 1999) The Renaissance (1350-1600), named from the FrenchRead MoreArt of the Italian Renaissance 1394 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the greatest stories from the Italian Renaissance is the one of Fillipo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti. In 1401, the directors of the art of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral held a contest for artists; to create panels for a the doors on the east entrance (Kleiner, 560-2). Because the east doors faced the cathedral, the people thought it extremely prestigious to be able to participate in such a massive creation. After the first competition round, two finalists remained; BrunelleschiRead MoreTotem Poles1130 Words   |  5 Pagesnon-Native apprentice who has been approved by a Northwest Pacific Coast band from Coastal British Columbia or Alaska. Second, it must be raised and blessed by Northwest Natives or elders who are part of the totem pole tradition. (â€Å"Totem Poles† American History) There are many kinds of totem poles that represent different things. The supreme expression of a familys devotion to its spiritual heritage was the totem pole. Usually carved of cedar, these exquisitely sculpted columns varied in size and styleRead MoreHUM 112 ASSIGNMENT Project Paper 21151 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Project Paper: Office Art Memo Professor Charles Hunsucker HUM 112 August 18, 2014 As an employee and a student taking a humanities class, I have been asked by my boss to select six various art pieces for the new corporate offices for our real estate firm. When my boss first gave me the task of managing the art budget and selecting the pieces I was quite nervous. She then reassured me by stating that she knew I was the person for the task, as I have asked her to read over and reviewRead MoreTask 1790 Words   |  4 PagesAncient and Medieval European History, 2000) to the sandy arid area that is otherwise unusable. Without this yearly flood, the Egyptians would not have been able to produce crops and sustain a thriving metropolis as it did. With such a successful civilization, it was only a matter of time before the seclusion that Egypt had been experiencing was over. Rome began rule over Egypt in 30 BC after Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, 2000). This take over by RomeRead MoreEnvironmental Art Essay1120 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental art is a genre of art that was established in the late 1960’s and it was created by things found in nature to make a piece of art. Some of the the environmental art would be so large in size, that it would be considered to be monumental. This kind of art can not be moved without destroying it, and the climate and weather can change it. There are many reasons why an artist would create an environmental work of art, such as : to address environmental issues affecting earth today, to