View Of Molo Analysis

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Looking at different pieces of art work at the art museum and one-piece in particular impressed me. It’s called “View of Molo”, painted by Giovanni Antonio Canal. Giovanni Canal was born in Venice, Italy in 1697. This particular piece was painted circa 1730-1735. The piece hangs at the El Paso Museum of Art in El Paso, Texas. The painting is part of the permanent collection donated by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1961. The art work was done on canvas using oil. The painting can be found in the Baroque and Rococo Period Gallery.
When looking at the painting it gives us a glimpse of the past. It looks almost like a photograph. The fine detail from the building on the right with the statue on top. The citizens walking around. …show more content…

Canal is heavy on the use of values. The piece of art work has heavy contrasts and deep shadows. This can be seen with the building on the right’s corridor. In the middle left he uses high light to show the sun light in the horizon. On the right bottom in the building’s outer corridor Canal uses cast shadow and core shadow. The shadows of the individuals walking are consistent in not only in direction, but in length. Canal used planes to divide the surroundings with the building and lines to divide the building to the sky. He also uses lines to create movement and direction as you can see the citizens heading toward the middle of the art work. The “View of the Molo” also gives the building a sense of texture on the surface. The building does not look flat. The windows protrude a bit. One can see depth on the window sills and the bottom corridors. Canal uses one-line perspective and the vanishing point is the building in the bottom middle. Canal’s use of color is minimal. The colors are not vibrant at the same time not dull. The art work uses colors minimally. The temperature of Canal’s art work is …show more content…

He used heavy brush strokes. Canal’s attention to detail is phenomenal, the building is true to life, the people walking, men working on their boats. Dogs playing. A man on the rail on the second floor of the building. In the distance one can see the double domed church. Canal used colors of his day. This piece of artwork is asymmetrical balance. The “View of the Molo” has rhythm since it has two focal points that pulls your eye to the foreground and to the background.
The meaning of The “View of the Molo” is what we would say of a picture taken with a digital camera of the same scene. It’s to take a snapshot of what was going on at that moment in time. Freezing time and motion into a painting. It captures Italian citizens going about their business be it on the street or on the dock or in and around the building.
This piece of art really impressed me. I can’t stress enough how realistic the painting is. One can see what was going on that day in Venice. Like is said that a photograph is worth a 1,000 words this painting is a photograph for its time. My interpretation of the art work was for Canal to show daily life in his city of Venice, Italy. Using the building in the foreground to the right still stands in Venice, Italy and is called the Palazzo Ducale. Giovanni Antonio Canal responded to his historical context by taking a “picture” for future generations to view, look at, admire and ponder upon

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