Untitled (Cows on a Hillside), painted by Toronto-based artist Kathleen Munn in the year 1916, continues her tradition of depicting conventional subjects in ways unlike any other Canadian artists of her time. An impressionistic 76.3 x 101.7 cm rendering of a herd of cattle grazing in the afternoon sun, captured in oil on canvas, currently resides in the Art Gallery of Ontario, where it is mounted at eye level in a golden frame on a burgundy-painted wall and accented with soft-focus, warm-toned lighting. This piece creates a feeling of excitement in its viewers through its combination of geometric and organic shapes, vibrant contrasting colours, and repeating lines. The image, which is composed almost exclusively of rectangular swatches of broken colour, manages to effectively capture the rounded silhouettes of the rolling hills and the cows’ bodies in spite of its geometric basis. The rectangular brushstrokes, which appear to be thickly applied with a palette knife, convey structure and stability, while the organic forms of what the brushstrokes create, such as the cows and the hills, convey a sense of spontaneity and add visual …show more content…
The entire painting is a study in contrasts: Clashing elements are combined with abandon, and then are grounded with more neutral tones. The diversity and contrast that each of these elements possesses are imaginative, offbeat, and unique, and it is this uniqueness that transforms the painting from ordinary to extraordinary. Kathleen Munn’s work stood out from any art being produced in Canada at the time, and upon viewing this spectacular piece, it’s easy to see why. Her exhilarating view and illustration of typical landscapes and animals signalled a massive change, both in her own work and in the Canadian art world itself. She was truly an original. What isn’t exciting about
Perhaps the most highly regarded of all Canadian portraits, the rendering of this mysterious woman sparks our curiosity through her captivating eyes and coy smile. She reappears in many of Varley’s paintings, and photographs by John Vanderpant, and later Harold Mortimer Lamb. An inspirational muse to many famous Canadian artists, her own worth as an artist is often underrated.
Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to
The texture of the paint is smooth and flows very nicely the paintings composition is primarily bundled into the bottom right half of the image. The wings and legs of the animals as well as and table help form an invisible sloping line across the painting.
His brush stokes are small and careful in the portrayal of grass to create the illusion of wind flowing through it. What also gives the grass a sense of “softness” is that the man looks comfortable enough to take off his shoes comfortably walk through it. Even though the brush stokes look small and soft he is still able to create the texture of stone on the house chimney, the bark on the tree, and the wood on the wheel barrel with these small careful strokes. The painting almost looks as if it would be soft to the touch and the mediums used have a lot to do with it. The gesso panel on wood makes the surface of the painting even and the paint glide easier across the surface, leaving no clumps of painting anywhere.
Examining the formal qualities of Homer Watson’s painting Horse and Rider In A Landscape was quite interesting. I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because it was the piece I liked the least, therefore making me analyze it more closely and discover other aspects of the work, besides aesthetics.
Looking at landscape art, especially when painted by one of the masters, many have undoubtedly pondered: what would it be like to live there? Shapes and attention to detail are, of course, important in a painting. However, it is color that draws the eye and inspires the heart. Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet and dramatist, spoke well of this when he noted that, “Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways. (qtd in “color”)”. Vincent Ward had a similar understanding of this impact when, in 1998, he directed the movie What Dreams May Come. Looking at this film, one can easily imagine being inside a living painting. The use of color to emphasize the emotional state of a character or event is common in films; nevertheless, Director Ward goes even farther in using color to represent the actual characters themselves. Red is the shade chosen to signify Annie and likewise, blue is used for Chris. Both of these, as will be shown, are accurate in defining these fictitious people. However, it is the profound use of purple in this film that is the true focal point. When mixing red and blue paint, one would find that, after being mixed, they cannot be separated. Likewise, this is true of the life and love these characters build and share. Purple represents the many ways in which Chris and Annie are melded, and joined.
Artists are masters of manipulation. They create unimaginably realistic works of art by using tools, be it a paintbrush or a chisel as vehicles for their imagination to convey certain emotions or thoughts. Olympia, by Manet and Bierstadt’s Sierra Nevada Mountains both are mid nineteenth century paintings that provide the viewer with different levels of domain over the subject.
Thomas Moran’s painting captures the essence of the true spirit of the Yellowstone Canyon and overwhelms any viewers who go up to it. With a size of 7’ by 12’ and a mastery display of vivid colors with hues of orange and yellow contrasted with the dark cold colors of the shadows, anyone would be overwhelmed. Under the cool shade, the path extending in front invites the viewer to join the tiny figures in the distance who seem to overlook the grand valley of the canyon below. The view from where those people are in the distance could be quite breathtaking, and this adds to the painting’s value. Moran captured the public and the government’s fascinations with the beauties of America’s Wild West. Moran’s mastery of composition within landscape
The first thing to notice about this painting is how incredibly involved and realistic the brushwork is. The couple’s faces are so delicately rendered. Every wrinkle is visible and every hair strand is in it’s place. The soft folds and patterns of their clothing, and the grain of the vertical boards on the house, are highly developed and reveal Wood’s incredible attention to detail. The man, especially, appears to be nearly photorealistic.
The contrasts between depth and surface, figure and landscape, promiscuity and modesty, beauty and vulgarity all present themselves in de Kooning’s Woman and Bicycle. Although the figure is a seemingly normal woman out for an afternoon with her bike, she becomes so much more through the artist’s use of color, contrast, and composition. The exotic nature of woman presents itself in her direct stare and slick buxom breasts in spite of a nearly indiscernible figure. It is understood that, on the whole, de Kooning did not paint with a purpose in mind, but rather as an opportunity to create an experience, however, that does not go to say that there isn’t some meaning that can come of this work. Even Willem de Kooning once said that art is not everything that is in it, but what you can take out of it (Hess p.144).
In an empty room at the Timken Museum of Art hangs one of the most iconic paintings of Johannes Vermeer, the astonishing painting, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. In the painting a pale woman’s stands patiently while reading a letter. The woman appears to be wearing a blue jacket and a long gray skirt, and only gazing at the letter, ignoring all of her surroundings. The top right of the painting seems to be a map of the Netherlands, which attracts the viewer because it explains the setting of where the painting took place. The blue jacket around the woman’s torso appears to exaggerate the woman’s stomach, giving the impression that she might be pregnant. The blue chairs resemble a sign of absence as if she lives alone. The light on the top left shines on her face which enhances the viewer’s view of the woman’s facial expression. Johannes Vermeer’s interpretation of complex colors, the light, and her body language inflicts a persuasion on the viewer that the women is traumatized by the news in the letter.
The French 1884 oil on canvas painting The Song of the Lark by Jules-Adolphe Breton draws grasps a viewer’s attention. It draws an observer in by its intense but subtle subject matter and by the luminous sun in the background. Without the incandescent sun and the thoughtful look of the young woman, it would just be a bland earth-toned farm landscape. However, Breton understood what to add to his painting in order to give it drama that would instantly grab an onlooker’s interest.
Another view by Kathleen Grace, who for 30 years an artist, art consultant and instructor, make the following statement:
Similar to many of the van Gogh’s paintings completed close to the end of his life, Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field with Crows is a representational painting depicting nature around him. This piece is showing the wheat fields surrounding the graveyard of the Church in Auvers-sur-Oise - the graveyard where both van Gogh and his brother, Theo, were buried. The artist shows his interpretation of the wheat field on a stormy day, with three paths converging in the center of the painting's foreground. The center path disappears into the distance with an “abrupt termination” on its way to the horizon, creating a true sense of depth, while the other two ...
...f the shadows is sprinkled with the orange of the ground, and the blue-violet of the mountains is both mixed with and adjacent to the yellow of the sky. The brushstrokes that carry this out are inspired by the Impressionists, but are more abundant and blunter than those an Impressionist would use.