Witch Duck Creek

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Recommended: Analytical essay on landscape paintings

The piece of artwork Sierra Nevada by Albert Bierstadt has some similar characteristics to the piece Witch Duck Creek by Joshua Shaw. Both of these pieces were created in the 1800s, Bierstadt's from 1871-1873 and Shaw's in 1835. Also, both pieces are made of oil on canvas and are currently being displayed in the same art museum, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, NC.
Of the many similarities that these two pieces of artwork have, a major similarity would be the subject of the paintings. Both Sierra Nevada and Witch Duck Creek show a scene that includes a vast blue sky, a body of water, and trees surrounding the body of water. While each piece has its own unique spin on this scene, they are very similar and can evoke the same feeling from their viewers. When looking at each of these pieces, there is a calming sense to them that is likely due to the bodes of water that are depicted not moving. Not only is the water not moving, but also, the use of many vertical lines in the trees of both pieces do not create the sense of chaos like the use of diagonal lines would. This results in a still and peaceful effect that is further backed by the color pallets each artist chose. In Sierra Nevada, Bierstadt used a combination of tints and shades of blue, green, brown, yellow, and gray. Due to this combination, the piece is not overpowering with color and excitement and, therefore, helps to create a calm and relaxed scene. In Witch Duck Creek the same principle is used by Shaw. Shaw also uses a combination of tints and shades of blue, green, gray, brown and white that gives his piece the same sense of calmness and allows the viewer to be drawn into the piece. While the calmness of these two pieces and the way the art...

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... background, the clouds, and the body of water. While all of these areas use value to create depth, the only area that is very saturated in the painting would be the sun because it is a focal point and must stand out. These differences in value and saturation lead to one painting looking more realistic than the other. This doesn't mean one is better, but that one painting shows more realistic coloring than the other.
While these two pieces have many similarities and differences, they have a common purpose, to allow a viewer to experience a bit of nature. The two artists used their own unique styles to depict a similar scene that resulted in two different paintings that each allow a viewer to experience this bit of nature in whatever way they interpret it. This is sort of the whole point of art, and it seems that both of these pieces captured that point very well.

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