Analysis of Artworks from Various Periods
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
Description
Background: The Starry Night depicts the landscape Van Gogh saw from his room at the asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Notably, the church, people, and mountains are included in the background.
Formal Elements: Predominantly pictorial in its formulation, Van Gogh utilizes thick brushstrokes, distinctly marking each line with varying pressures. The contours of the mountains and houses are defined by a thick black line. He applies color directly onto the canvas with diverse strokes, using straight lines for the houses and swirling strokes across the sky. Cool colors like blue and green predominate, accented by black lines and contrasted with yellow to highlight the houses and stars. The moon is enveloped in a yellow aura, almost creating confusion with the sun.
Composition
The night landscape is divided into two distinct parts. The lower section features the land, the village with its needle-shaped church tower, and the people. The upper section showcases the sky, the moon, and the stars radiating light in circular forms. The cypress tree on the left unites these two sections. The composition is not mathematically precise; the cypress establishes the foreground, adding depth to the painting, while the village and mountains recede into the background.
Analysis
The artwork presents varying rhythms, contrasting the clarity and movement of the sky with the stillness and darkness of the village. The dynamism of the sky is conveyed through wavy, interconnected lines, while straight lines depict the village’s tranquility.
Technique
The painting is vibrant and rigorous, employing undulating and vertical lines. The landscape representation reflects the artist’s interpretation rather than a faithful depiction of reality. For instance, the church tower is not from Saint-Rémy but resembles churches in the Netherlands. There’s a strong connection between the forms and Van Gogh’s state of mind. The colors don’t mirror reality but rather his emotions, resulting in a landscape infused with his subjectivity.
Style
Post-Impressionism: Van Gogh’s style is intensely personal and expressive. He painted with vivid colors, capturing an energetic and even violent essence. While influenced by Impressionism, he moved beyond its postulates of light and color. His unique representation of space, inspired by Japanese art and Greek line-contoured figures, adds originality. Van Gogh’s landscapes express a profound spirituality, a theme initiated by the German Romantic painter Friedrich and revived by artists like Millet. His influence on Expressionists like Munch, Kirschner, and Kokoshka is evident in their use of painting to convey emotions. Van Gogh has become an icon of modern culture.
Context and Interpretation
The nocturnal landscape emphasizes the expression of nighttime colors and explores themes of mystery, solitude, and agony. Van Gogh transcends Dutch realism to showcase the effects of nature, using light and color to express his internal tension. Painted in 1889 from his room at the Saint-Rémy asylum, where he was admitted for epileptic seizures, this landscape reflects his inner world. Nature’s energy and splendor are on full display. It represents a primordial and pure world, contrasting with modern pollution and religious drama. Natural elements like olive trees and cypress become formal tools to embody his mood. The vertical cypress symbolizes faith in life after death and the idea of death itself, echoed by the church spire. The distant, illuminated village houses represent human warmth, far removed from the solitary painter. The dynamic and mysterious stars serve as an expression of his religious yearning, as Van Gogh seeks answers from God in the vastness of the night.
Function
Painting served as an escape from Van Gogh’s anguish. Despite the lack of recognition during his lifetime, he maintained his innate ability to preserve emotions. He sought solace through nature, shaping his intimate crisis, with its significant religious component, in this painting. By using the seemingly secular theme of landscapes, Van Gogh sought answers to his questions about infinity, which traditional religion failed to provide.
Additional Explanations
The 19th century witnessed a decline in religious values, challenged by scientific advancements. People sought answers to questions about infinity in nature and the cosmos. Van Gogh, the son of a Protestant pastor, had studied theology before turning to painting. He expressed his desire for a painting that could offer solace beyond traditional religious ideas. Saint-Rémy was a traditional Mediterranean dryland agricultural region, featuring cypress and olive trees, with the Alpilles mountains to the south. Van Gogh sought new directions for his painting there. After a nervous breakdown, he spent a year in the asylum. Upon release, he returned to northern France, where he committed suicide two months later.
Conclusion
Van Gogh’s work was highly innovative and paved the way for Expressionism. His painting, through the emotional quality of color and the strength of his brushwork, expresses human emotions and tensions.
The Wedding by Marià Fortuny
Description
Background: The action takes place in an 18th-century vicarage. The scene depicts a double signature inspired by the sacristy of San Sebastian in Madrid, where Fortuny married.
Formal Elements: Predominantly linear, with well-defined and finished figures. Colors are applied with fine, precise brushstrokes. Warm colors dominate over cool colors, although both are represented. Intense light emanates from the left, suggesting a window.
Composition
The composition is balanced, thanks to the brazier and the lamp. Light from the left illuminates the scene, creating clearer colors on the right, where there is more shade. The vanishing point, located in the papers, structures the work. Two horizontal axes are formed by the papers and the bars, and two diagonal axes emerge from the papers. Two vertical lines are created between the papers and the golden gate’s column. The central group, signing the marriage papers, and the left group with the majo and the bullfighter are highlighted.
Analysis
The composition is stable due to elements like the lamp and brazier.
Technique
The scene depicts an anecdotal, everyday moment.
Style
Realistic-Fortunyista: Fortuny is considered the second most important 19th-century Spanish painter after Goya. He created a unique style that evolved into the realism of Fortunyisme.
Context and Interpretation
The painting features three groups: the vicar on the left, the main group in the center with the bride and groom signing the papers assisted by the priest, and a penitent beggar connecting to the third group, where people are relaxed in contrast to the main action.
Function
Decorative: The painting depicts a genre scene or a scene of everyday life.
The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya
Description
Background: The work represents the shootings of May 3rd in Madrid.
Formal Elements: Predominantly pictorial in its formulation, with long, open brushstrokes that are powerfully expressive. The color range is limited (ocher, black, white, yellow, red). Light affects the colors, creating sharp contrasts and nuances.
Composition
The composition is divided into three groups against a backdrop of houses. On the left, a group of people are depicted, some dead and others moments before being shot. On the right, a platoon of soldiers is positioned diagonally. The composition is organized around the figure confronting the soldiers. Light illuminates the characters on the left, while shadows surround the soldiers on the right. Light and color create depth. The horizon line adds realism and draws the viewer into the work.
Analysis
The diagonal positioning of the figures creates dynamism in the scene.
Technique
The characters’ attitudes express a range of emotions, including horror, heroism, and resignation. However, the soldiers are depicted as dehumanized figures.
Style
Despite belonging to the Neoclassical period, the work exhibits characteristics of Romantic painting. Goya draws inspiration from the Baroque tradition in both pictorial resources and expressions. He also incorporates tenebrism from the 17th century. Goya’s innovative approach would inspire later artists like Manet.
Context and Interpretation
The painting depicts the executions carried out by French troops on the people of Madrid, a day after the spontaneous uprising. The figure of the man with open arms is associated with icons of Jesus’ crucifixion, and the light symbolizes the presence of God. Goya portrays the people as heroes, departing from the distant sensibility of heroism in Neoclassical paintings. The passionate struggle of the people reveals a clear Romantic sensibility.
Function
Documentary: While not intended as propaganda, the painting serves as a witness to the events in Madrid.
Additional Explanations
The popular insurrection against Napoleon’s troops led to a prolonged war. Goya, a supporter of Enlightenment ideas, was horrified by the barbarity and moved by the heroism of the people. Disillusioned by the political situation, he went into exile in Bordeaux, where he died. Goya was renowned as both a painter and engraver. He gained access to aristocratic circles and was appointed court painter to Charles IV.
Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) by Édouard Manet
Description
Background: The work depicts two couples enjoying a meal outdoors.
Formal Elements: Predominantly pictorial in its formulation. The figures are drawn without contour lines, with flat colors forming different shapes. Chiaroscuro is absent, and background details are outlined. There’s a balance between warm and cool colors, with warm colors used for the light illuminating the female figures.
Composition
Manet places the figures at the center of the painting, forming a triangular and closed composition. Two figures gaze directly and complicitly at the viewer. The other male figure is engaged in conversation with the others. Manet challenges traditional perspective by placing the female figure in the background on the same plane as the others.
Analysis
The figures are balanced and presented naturally. The scene is relaxed and everyday, with characters directly facing the viewer.
Style
Impressionism: Manet’s early work contributed to the development of Impressionism. He explored realistic themes like daily outdoor scenes and landscapes. He also introduced stylistic innovations, such as the use of pure colors, earning him the title “father of Impressionism.”
Context and Interpretation
The work is inspired by a painting by Titian with a similar mythological scene. Manet’s painting, exhibited in 1863, was deemed vulgar and morally condemned. Its style was also criticized for its lack of refined brushwork, absence of outlines, and minimal background details. The painting has inspired many later artists, including Picasso.
Function
The primary purpose of the work was aesthetic. It was intended for exhibition at the Salon to gain recognition and attract clients.
Conclusion
Manet, considered the father of Impressionism, cultivated a style based on the realistic representation of everyday scenes, portraits, and outdoor landscapes. He paved the way for Impressionism, which developed a new concept in art history.
Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise) by Claude Monet
Description
Background: The painting depicts a sunrise at sea, with boats and masts visible. The drawing has practically disappeared, and the brushstrokes are fragmented, made up of touches of color and light.
Formal Elements: Monet investigates the effect of the sun and focuses on the aesthetic qualities of color.
Composition
The planes merge, creating a shallow depth of field. The boats appear close to the masts, but the intention is not to show depth but rather an atmospheric treatment that captures the mobility of space through the vibration of light and atmosphere. The space, including the air and reflections, is captured.
Analysis
Impressionism conveys the fluidity of time.
Technique and Expressiveness
The painting emphasizes the possibilities of sensation, particularly the effect of light on water and atmosphere. Through colors, Monet expresses a lyrical sense of nature, prioritizing the capture of light and atmosphere over visual reality.
Style
Impressionism: Impressionism emerged from realism but initiated an artistic revolution in the 19th century. In Impressionism, form is defined by the vibration of color, which exists only through the phenomenon of light. Monet’s research into the optical effects of light significantly contributed to this movement, marking the beginning of modern art and the rise of abstraction.
Interpretation
Painted from Monet’s window in Le Havre, the theme is nature itself, but more importantly, it’s the embodiment of the light phenomenon. Impressionism also reflects the artist’s subjective vision. In essence, it’s a conjunction of vision and feeling, where the perception of time becomes more pervasive.
Function
Decorative and Aesthetic: The painting explores painting techniques and establishes a new conception of painting based on atmosphere. It participated in the first Impressionist group exhibition, where it was criticized for its lack of finish and unconventional style. The term “Impressionism” was coined in response to this painting, initially used derogatorily but eventually embraced by the artists. The exhibition ultimately proved successful.
Conclusion
Monet’s series, which analyzed different times of day, paved the way for abstract art. His work influenced Kandinsky, who realized that shape and color could be independent of the object and express emotions on their own.