The variation of light and darkness is what really
makes a work of art come alive. Without
the shadows and highlights, a painting looks flat. One of my favorite examples of an artist who
used lights and darks to make a painting come to life is the Rouen Cathedral by
Claude Monet. The Cathedral was painted
at different times of the day so that Monet could show us how the light changes
at different times. He was showing how
important light is in our perception of something at any time. What is interesting about the series of
paintings is that they are all painted from the same point of view, just at
different times in the day. Each
painting looks distinctly unique even though they are of the same cathedral. What makes them different is the way that the
light hitting the cathedral is displayed on his canvas. This painting is the Rouen Cathedral, The West Portal, Dull Weather.
Rouen Cathedral, The West Portal, Dull Weather, Monet, oil, 1892
This image shows the cathedral when it was darker in
the winter. The way the light hits it
portrays a darker theme. It invokes a
different feeling than the other paintings in the series that are lighter, such
as the Sunset Rouen Cathedral.
Sunset Rouen Cathedral, Monet, oil, 1892-1894
This picture has a much lighter feeling to it. Looking at it invokes a more happy feeling
than the Dull Weather painting. It is amazing how this can be achieved by a
change in the light alone. Looking at a
painting of the same building, you can have two very different feelings just
because the light changed.
The cathedral painting called Morning Effect is another feeling in itself. It is very gloomy and it reminds me of an
overcast morning.
Rouen Cathedral, Morning Effect, Monet, oil, 1892-1894
No comments:
Post a Comment