The first painting I came across was the ‘Girl on a red carpet’ painting by Felice Casorati. It features a girl surrounded by items that reflect both her childhood and adolescence. I think it grabbed my attention because of the downward perspective onto this patterned carpet, and how the artist uses this pattern to place the figure in the space. The floral design is larger in the foreground and gradually gets smaller the further away you get.
The second painting by an artist called Hugo Grenville again uses pattern, but in a way that doesn’t help to create perspective. Bold and contrasting colours help to place the objects and the figure. Everything seems to merge and blend and yet you can still differentiate between the items. I like the colour palette of this painting, and how a room doesn’t necessarily have to have precise linear perspective.

My third and final painting is by the artist Vilhelm Hammershoi and is completely opposite to the other paintings I have chosen. It has in contrast a very limited and muted colour palette, which I think adds to the atmosphere and effect of the painting. The figure also faces away from the viewer giving you a kind of suspense and wonder about the character. I liked the light coming through the window highlighting this stark silhouette and her gloomy surroundings. I think there is a real beauty and interest to this mundane setting.

Sources

Websites

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Casorati

Home

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhelm_Hammershøi

 

The first artist suggested to look at was Pablo Picasso and his blue period of portrait paintings. This era of artwork was inspired by the sorrowful characters he witnessed in Spain including beggars, prostitutes, drunks and poverty stricken families. The blue tones in which he uses were analogous to the internal battle he had with depression at the time, and enhanced the theme of sadness and despair in the paintings. I liked the artworks below, they show how effective it is to use a cool and monochromatic palette to enhance this sombre atmosphere.

The second artist Vincent Van Gogh is renowned for using colour to portray mood and his early work was quite dark to begin with. The painting ‘The Potato Eaters’ depicted peasants huddled around a table eating by the light of a small lamp. The painting is quite sombre and shows the reality of poverty and a life much removed from the civilised people Vincent had known. In contrast to this painting and from the guidance of his brother and the influence of modern art he began painting in brighter hues of colour. The painting below (right) is vibrantly painted and would reflect the optimism he had for his new life in Arles. I automatically think of yellow as a colour of happiness and I like that the sunflowers are at different stages of blooming.

Rembrandt is another portrait artist that creates atmospheric paintings, using a limited colour palette of White, Black and Earth tones. He uses the chiaroscuro technique to perfection, choosing to highlight the faces and hands in his portraits and leave the clothing and setting to almost meld into the background. I quite liked the two paintings below with their dramatic contrast of light and dark areas. They definitely give off a gloomy vibe even though the colours used are earthy warm tones?

Fauvism was a style of painting in which colour and heavy brushstrokes were accentuated rather than portraying subjects in a realistic manor. An extension of post-expressionism and the beginning of the movement towards abstraction. It also dabbles with a form of expression with the vibrant colour use and impulsive brush marks. The two paintings below by Henri Matisse (Left) and Kees Van Dongen (Right) do not have a sense of traditional depth or form, however the clever placement of contrasting colours helps to make the paintings pop and almost jump out of the canvas. Colour has been used to express how the artist feels towards their subject. The painting by Henri Matisse is a portrait of his wife and I think he uses lots of soft pastel hues to encapsulate someone that he’s very fond of, its almost dreamlike in its quality. I also think that the colours build this idea of a playful, kind and peaceful individual. The second painting by Kees Van Dongen was thought to have been a portrait of the artist and model Fernande Olivier, but it was a touchy subject and was never disclosed by the artist. Its almost like the artist had a more covert side to his personality and to the meagre life he had with his wife of that time. There seems to be quite a lot of black and different shades of red used, which when I think of those colours I relate them to black being a sense of mystery and red to sexuality.

In the early twentieth century German Expressionism came about with the two famous art groups; Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue River). Again emotion and colour were more important than the integrity of form and realism. German Expressionism would have not only an impact on modern art but also on architecture, dance and cinema.
I came across the painting below that I liked, it has an almost childlike quality to the brush marks but again the clever use of contrasting colours makes the portrait exciting and vivid. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was one of the founding members of the group ‘Die Brucke’ and it was a movement again that wanted to shun the traditional academic styles of the past but also create a connection with past and present art, hence the name ‘Die Bridge’.

Sources

Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso%27s_Blue_Period

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/vincent-van-gogh-life-and-work/van-goghs-life-1853-1890/from-dark-to-light

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauvism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kees_van_Dongen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Brücke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Blaue_Reiter

Books

Movements in Painting – Chambers Arts Library by Patricia Fride-Carrassat & Isabelle Marcade

The first artist I chose was Frida Kahlo, not only because she is one of my favourites but also because she stands out in my mind as one of the most famous self-portrait artists I could think of. Through the style of naïve folk art she explores identity, gender, class, post-colonialism and race in Mexican society. I think her self-portraits work so well because she was such a unique character. She was not afraid to reveal who she was and had this great ballsy attitude which was reflected in her artwork. Shunning the term ‘Surrealist’, she described her work as her own reality, using symbols to depict current events. It was difficult to choose between all of her paintings but I decided I liked the one below best. I like the bright green foliage in the background and the cat and monkey perched on her shoulder. Its strange that such bold, warm colours have been used when actually the paintings are based around such sad circumstances. Frida is quite solemn in this painting and there are numerous items she has used to reflect the pain and suffering she endured throughout her life. This painting makes you feel both happy and sad at the same time.

The second artist I chose was Vincent Van Gogh, again because I admire the bold colours he uses in his paintings, but he is also another artist who comes to mind when you think of self-portraits. He created dozens of paintings of himself depicted from a mirror, all at different stages throughout his life or when he simply couldn’t afford to pay for a sitter. He seems to have this intense gaze and yet his eyes never quite meet the viewers in some of his self-portraits. I think the paintings say a lot about his emotional state, he was someone that judged himself too harshly and perhaps that’s why he doesn’t look directly at you? He also implements colour to reflect mood, using bright yellows, oranges and blues in happier, earlier times and then ashen tones just before his suicide. He wrote in a letter to the artist Emile Bernard “I strongly urge you to study portrait painting, do as many portraits as you can and don’t flag. We must win the public over later on by means of the portrait; in my opinion it is the thing of the future”
In a lot of ways he was right, we are now obsessed with taking pictures of ourselves with terms like ‘selfie’ referring to a photo taken of oneself and even though the medium used is different, it would seem the self-portrait has never been more popular.

The paintings below are of Vincent by other artists and reflect I think perhaps someone different to what the artist thought of himself. The first portrait by John Russell paints Vincent in a good light, with him looking serious and perhaps a handsome version. The second painting is by Paul Gauguin and depicts what Vincent first thought looked like that of a madman. But I think the painting shows a softer, warmer side to the artist.

The third artist I found while looking for early female artists, was Judith Leyster who was one of only a few professional female painters around during the Dutch Golden Age. The self-portrait below has this great cast of light that highlights the material of her dress wonderfully. I think it shows a confident and perhaps playful person and its quite sad to learn that her work became largely forgotten about or regarded as works from other male artists. The self-portrait became important for female artists to present themselves in a way that is removed from the objectification of the female form, so often painted by male artists.
Lucian Freud is another artist whose self-portraits grab my attention and in particular the self-portrait below. I like how every line and crease of his facial expressions have been depicted. His flesh tones are also impressive, the use of the colours green, yellow and orange is something I would like to take note of from this painting. Lucian Freuds self-portrait gives an unapologetic and candid view of the ageing process.
The last artist I looked at was Cristina Troufa and the beautiful self-portrait below. I love the colour palette and the use of negative space in her paintings. She really goes into exploring her state of mind, beliefs, her past and personal development, with many of her self-portraits depicting this struggle with her own self. I also found the different viewpoints she uses in her paintings really inspiring.

Sources

Websites

https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-thorn-necklace-and-hummingbird.jsp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/selfportrait.html

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/judith-leyster

Artist Feature: Cristina Troufa

Books

Linear perspective is the mathematical method of drawing or painting to create depth and space to a flat plane. It was thought to have been discovered around the renaissance period by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi and documented by the architect and writer Leon Battista Alberti. The three important elements to create this system are parallel lines, a horizon line and a vanishing point. To use this system you must first imagine the surface in which you are drawing as an open window, you then have a horizon line running along at eye level (where sky meets ground). Then a vanishing point located roughly around the centre will be the point in which all parallel lines will meet. These lines also known as Orthogonal lines, they are used to help you align building walls or tiles when drawing.
Transversals are lines that cut across two or more (usually parallel) lines and the distance point is a new point (the eye) on the horizon situated either to the left or right of the vanishing point.
Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the artists around the Renaissance period who used this system of drawing to create many paintings. The painting ‘The Last Supper’ uses one point linear perspective which is where all the lines meet to one place (vanishing point) on the horizon.

 

 

 

Sources

Websites
https://www.britannica.com/art/linear-perspective

https://www.wikipedia.org/

 

Realism – Sometimes called naturalism, is the representation of subjects in a real or truthful way.

Dutch Realism became popular around the 17th century and flourished due to the Protestant reformation. The emphasis became more about capturing the every day and ordinary life.
Johannes Vermeer was the first artist I found and I came across the painting ‘The Music Lesson’ (left). I liked the cast of light shining through and highlighting the main subjects of the painting. I also think the linear perspective has been done really well, there is a real sense of depth to the room. The use of objects in the forefront helps to determine space and distance. The painting is thought to have been an exploration of the shared pleasure of music between the two characters.
The second artist I came across was Pieter de Hooch and his painting ‘A Woman with a Child in a Pantry’ (right). It stood out to me because of the brightly coloured tiles on the floor and the view of another room through a doorway. I like the stark contrast of complementary colours for the tiles, set against the sort of dull gloomy walls. I also think that the highlights of where the daylight spills in have been done well. It helps to create the illusion of interior space. Pieter uses a technique called a ‘doorkijkjes’ where he paints a view into another room through a door, or a window with a view outside. This helps to both connect and distinguish from the outside world. This painting is a glimpse into the domestic life of the characters. It’s quite a tender scene of the woman smiling down to the child who is bringing her an item.

I found the painting below by Edouard Vuillard titled ‘Large Interior with Six Persons’. Vuillard painted this while he was part of a group of artists called the Nabis. During this period of time he was an advocate of symbolism rather than naturalism with his approach to colour, and would apply paint to emphasize the flatness of the canvas. Using simplified shapes and strong outlines inspired by Japanese woodcuts, he created a flattened space to his interiors. The subjects and the interiors merge together by colour and pattern. The idea was to convey the sense of mood within a domestic scene, with the use of vivid colour. It was thought that two of the characters depicted in this painting were having an affair at the time. It feels as if the occupants of this room are ignoring each other, as if the uncomfortable situation makes them all want to dissapear and blend into the background.

The second artist I looked at was Van Gogh and his painting ‘The Bedroom’. He would paint things numerous times, and in one of his versions of the painting below he has painted it a more brighter shade of colours and in the second he has used darker tones. He has perhaps unwittingly painted them to match his feelings in those moments in time. With the first painting being when he first arrived in Arles, full of hope and optimism and the last painting  being where he had just fallen out with his friend and fellow artist Gauguin. He has used bold complementary colours to liven up the simplicity of the ordinary surroundings and a one point perspective, which is slightly skewed with the furniture slightly off and the lack of shadows. It almost feels like everything is tilting and sliding down the painting. All the items seem to be in perfect harmony with each other, with a real sense of calmness to the room.

The third artist I looked at was John Bratby and the paintings ‘Rain in June (1961)’ & ‘Fireplace and Window at Greenwich’. John was part of the ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’ movement where everyday items were utilized and mundane domestic scenes were used to portray the harsh social realism of that time. I think he turns what could be an ordinary and somewhat boring room like a bathroom into something that interests and intrigues the viewer. His style is a lot like Van Gogh’s in the way he uses distorted perspective, however the colour use is somewhat limited to an affordable palette of colours, a reflection of the economic circumstances he was trying to portray.

The last artist I looked at was Njideka Akunyili Crosby, I just love her vibrant artworks! She creates collage and photo transfer-based paintings based around the colliding worlds in which she grew up. She was born and grew up in Nigeria until the age of sixteen where she then moved to America with her family. I looked at the diptych painting below called ‘Predecessors’ I liked the palette of colours she uses and how one painting is occupied by a figure, while the second painting remains vacant of human subject. The multiplicity of perspectives and texture is achieved through multiple layers of collage and drawings. The hybrid spaces merge the two cultures together, from the tabletop of family photos to the modern furnishings of the apartment. There is a sense of intimacy and insight into the artists background.

Sources

Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0047V1962?v=1
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/15/science-van-gogh-bedroom-colors-paintings
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-bratby-804

Articles

‘I Can Spend Three Full Days Online’: Njideka Akunyili Crosby on the Photo-Collage Paintings That Made Her a MacArthur ‘Genius’

 

 

Still Life – Dutch word ‘Still-leven’ meaning motionless natural object or objects

The Dutch Golden Age of painting began around the 17th century, with artists like Jan Brueghel the Elder and Pieter Claesz painting detailed and intricate Still Life’s. The painting by Pieter Claesz below (left) is super realistic and has this cast of light emphasizing the skull, which symbolizes the shortness of life – known as the ‘Vanitas’ theme, a lot of the paintings had hidden meanings within them.
The painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder below (right) depicts flowers that in reality would never bloom together all at the same time, it would mean that the paintings flowers could be enjoyed all year round. These beautiful and impressive arrangements would show off both the artists skill and the collectors wealth. 

Following on from the 17th century, the 18th century continued with this format of ideas, but with floral decoration moving on to fabric, porcelain and wallpaper, this was part of the Rococo/ Late Baroque movement and was a style in which French artists became the influencers. This period saw ‘Still Life’s’ as becoming a genre itself and moving on from the hidden allegories of mortality or vanitas. France would become the hub for painting right up until after World War II and the Non-objective artwork.
The painting below (left) is by the artist Anne Vallayer-Coster and depicts a kitchen table with fish and glassware. She has captured the highlights on the glass and the luminescent sheen on the fish perfectly and yet ‘Still Life’ was considered the least technically challenging at the time.
Anne Vallayer-Coster was hugely influenced by Jean Baptiste-Simeon Chardin who was considered a master of ‘Still Life’ and was known for his Impasto paint technique and soft diffusion of light. In the painting below (right) you can see the heavy brush strokes and the clever use of highlighting and shade, as if every surface was thoroughly thought about and the soft velvety texture of the peaches can almost be felt.

With the 19th century ‘Still Life’ came back in favour, with ‘Impressionism’ and ‘Post-Impressionism’ making technique and colour more important than subject matter.
Edouard Manet used loose brush strokes and tone to paint this ‘Carnations and Clematis in a Crystal Vase’ painting below (left). Transitioning from realism to impressionism ‘Still Life’ would become more focused on depiction of light, movement and mood, using contrasting or complementary colours. I also looked at the work of Paul Gauguin I liked the vibrant colours of the ‘Still life with teapot and fruits’ (below right) and although the items appear flat and without any sense of depth, I think it helps to focus the attention more to the pattern and texture of the paint application.

The 20th century saw several art trends including Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism to name a few. A group of artists named the ‘Les Nabis’ were involved in the move of Impression and academic art to abstract, symbolism and modernism. Odilon Redon was one of the artists involved in this movement, he would use symbolism to convey his feelings and his own imagination to portray form. I liked the still life of Flowers below (top left) for its simple background and soft appearance.
Still life had some what of a revival with the colourful and bold paintings of Fauvism and the fragmented and abstract paintings of Cubism. The artist Henri Matisse has created this beautifully bold still life (bottom left) using complementary colours to enhance the brightness of the painting. Pablo Picasso was known for co-founding the Cubist movement, where objects or figures were deconstructed and put back together in a fragmented and distorted way, creating a new reality. He did a series of guitar paintings exploring different media and different concepts. The guitar series was thought to have been the start of Synthetic Cubism in which items were painted in bolder colours and would include using different materials to make collages. I liked the painting below because even though there is no sense of depth to items, they still manage to stand out with the clever use of contrast and colour.

Contemporary Still Life hasn’t changed that much from earlier works, in a way that what is needed to make a ‘Still Life’ is still relatively the same. You would still apply light and shadows, composition and the application of colour, shading and texture. It has however evolved with media, with the use of photography or video. The still life below is just like a painting from the 17th century, with the lighting and flowers all replicated. Sharon core’s photograph has captured the flowers at the peak of their life, but the voyeur knows that the flowers will soon whither and die. It helps to remind you that life is short and we must lead good and fulfilling lives.

The second still life is by Ori Gersht and depicts a floral arrangement being blown up, while being caught on film. The artist has taken the calm of a ‘still life’ arrangement and the violence of the explosion and perhaps used them as a visual representation of the conflicts going on in his homeland of Israel. (link below)

Sources

Websites
Pinterest
Wikipedia
Britannica
Tate

Articles
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2013/oct/19/10-best-contemporary-still-lifes

Books
Movements in Painting – By Patricia Fride-Carrassat & Isabelle Marcade

Michel Eugène Chevreul was a French chemist whose work at the Gobelins textile factory involved the chemical research and quality assurance in the dyes used for fine fabrics and textile designs. This work eventually led him to the colour complications caused by placing certain threads of colour next to each other, he discovered that the clarity in colour was not due to the dye itself but rather an optical illusion. Through further investigation and experiments he created a fundamental “law” of the simultaneous contrast of colours:

“In the case where the eye sees at the same time two contiguous colours, they will appear as dissimilar as possible, both in their optical composition [hue] and in the height of their tone [mixture with white or black].”

He found three situations in which this colour contrast could be observed:-

Simultaneous Contrast – Which is the way a colour is perceived when placed next to another colour.
Successive Contrast – Which is when you have perhaps looked at one colour for a length of time and then look at another one. For instance when you have been outside in bright sunshine and then go into a dark room, the contrast makes the room appear far darker than it is.
Mixed Contrast – Is the overlaying of an after image upon a different colour.

Chevreul found that the visual effect of placing two colour areas next to each other, would create a shift in hue and value as if the preceding complementary colour were mixed with it. He noted that these colour shifts were strongest when they were placed side by side and so developed the chromatic diagram of colours below.

The adjoining colours appear to look completely different, both in their optical composition and in the strength of their colour. This is because the brain perceives the juxtaposed hues of colour in an exaggerated way. This also works in the same way for different levels of lightness. Chevreul also claimed that by placing one light shade of grey next to a darker shade of grey, it would then enhance the light shade lighter and also the dark shade darker. The diagram below shows the stripes of different hues of grey, and when viewed from a distance they appear as if they are channelled grooves, this is because of the double contrast, with each stripe viewed from right to left being lighter than the following and each stripe when viewed from left to right darker than the other. This was called ‘Chevreul’s Illusion’. 

Sources
Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eugène_Chevreul
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michel-Eugene-Chevreul

Click to access Chevreuls%20Law%20F1%20web%20good.pdf

Books

Chiaroscuro is the term used for the technique of drawing on coloured paper using a dark medium like ink, with white highlighting in perhaps gouache. It is the strong contrast of light and dark tones to create volume and a three-dimensional quality. It’s beginnings starting in the renaissance era with artists like Caravaggio and Leonardo, who understood that to create the solidity of form, you need to emphasise where the light hits an object.
I have taken a look at the artists below to understand how and why they used it in their work. I think the use of light is not only because of the era of candlelight or daylight but also for theatrical purposes too.

Caravaggio
I started looking at a few of ‘Caravaggio’s paintings and had noticed how the central focus was almost drawn to the lightest areas of his paintings. Which was also a subject brought up on while watching a clip on ‘The National Gallery’ Website, on how his use of light didn’t only help with the aesthetic enhancement of the painting but also with the message in which he was conveying. He would choose a pinnacle point in a narrative and almost highlight this moment with the accentuated use of light.
His paintings are dramatic and intense, even his ‘Still Life’s’ have a vibrant and interesting quality to them. In the painting ‘Saint Jerome’ the saints outstretched hand reaches across the table, where a skull sits highlighted, like the watchful eye of death.
I also found out that he did very little preparatory sketches before painting these great works, which I think can perhaps add to the theatrical element of a drawing or painting.

Caravaggio: His life and style in three paintings | National Gallery

Tintoretto
The Venetian artist Tintoretto, also known as ‘Il Furioso’ for his energetic style of painting, worked on large-scale biblical scenes with fantastic compositions and dramatic casts of light. The paintings look like as if the heavens themselves have opened and the characters and settings are swathed in this glorious ethereal light. The intense shade and light adding to the drama of the scenes he is depicting.

Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist specializing in altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and symbolic subjects. He was hugely influenced by the Italian masters like Titian, Tintoretto, Leonardo and Michelangelo, going on to copy the colouring and compositions of some of these artists in his own work.
I liked this painting below of an old lady shielding her eyes from the candle light with an infant at her side. I think it shows you how the technique could be used to create either natural light or in this instance artificial light.

 

 

Sources

Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/jacopo-tintoretto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintoretto
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/peter-paul-rubens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens

Books

Carrying on from the last exercise I have then taken the dried Violet and Ultramarine washes and have gone over with the opposite colour, painting in broad sweeping motions the paint went on reasonably well with more control than the first wash of colour. The colours didn’t seem to blend as well when painting over the dried wash but seemed to build a more intense colour. I also noticed that the paint doesn’t run as much as the wet on wet washes did. Overlaying the washes of paint can help to build a more intense colour and a sense of depth.

I have looked into the work of Mark Rothko who was part of an abstract expressionist  movement of colour field painting. Which is characterised by the painting of a large area of one flat single colour. In his ‘Seagram Murals’ he created a series of paintings, the second and third involving different variations of a floating window frame. He experimented using more sombre colours and painted the following ‘Red on Maroon’ by using glue in the paint to create the ‘matt’ base to the background, then another coat of paint which he scraped some of away, followed by a red frame in which he used fast brush strokes and a decorators brush. Although at first glance the paintings appear slightly primitive and childlike, on further inspection your eyes get drawn into the rectangles of colour, are they hovering out of the frame or are you looking in at them? The use of colour has created depth and a strange illusion which holds the voyeur captive.

 

Sources
Websites
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rothko-red-on-maroon-t01165