May 31
Today I got the opportunity to visit the National Gallery. Founded in 1824, the National Gallery is home to over 2,300 paintings from the 19th Century all the way back to the 13th. And among all the beautiful pieces, two in particular stood out the most to me.
The first piece being George Seurat’s Bathers at Asnieres. I have always been a huge fan of Seurat’s work, as he is a pioneer for the technique of pointillism: a style of painting that uses small “points” of brushstrokes and contrasting colors to give a beautiful illusion of the whole picture. He is most known for his painting of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which is very reminiscent of this piece here. This painting displays a Parisian riverside, full of people lounging by the River Siene.
What I find quiet interesting about this piece is the way Seurat uses color to emulate light throughout the scene. Looking left to right, we see the light dim within the scene to were we see the sky darken due to the factories in the distance. Because the upper right side of the painting is darker, it forces the viewers eyes to detour towards the brighter clothes and people on the opposing corner. In addition, Seurat uses brighter tones around the people on the island that in turn highlight and give them focus.
The whole piece is very regal and stoic, yet has some very humorous elements. For example, this dog in the bottom right corner. He is gorgeous and also hideous, and I just think his presence in this photo needs some well deserved attention.
The other piece that struck out to me is Jacob Jordaens Portrait of Cornelis van Diest & his Wife. Created in 1636, Jordaens was a Flemish painter, which was a very popular style of 17th Century Belgium. This piece first stood out to me because of the strong and dark colors used, as well as the little features throughout.
Both paintings have very distinct contrasts. First, Bathers is very bright, soft, rounded, and illusionistic, whereas Cornelis is sharp, stoic, regal, and showy. Simply the body language expressed details stark focuses. The people in Bathers face away to the right (which again perpetuates the view flow around the piece) and Cornelis faces full front. In addition, Bathers is a very pastel and light piece, which is vastly different from the rich and dark color scheme used in Cornelis.
Both pieces are similar though in that there is immense detail put into both pieces. Cornelis is very clear to see the detail, with the many pieces to their outfits, the addition of the parrot & dog to aide in showing off their wealth, and the scenic elements of their surroundings. And while Bathers seems simple from far away, that is simply the effect of pointillism. Up close to the painting you will see incredibly precise paint marks of contrasting colors that create an illusion and make up the one color we see from afar. All in all, both paintings have precise attention to detail and while they were created centuries apart, share a similar view in precision.
Theatre in London U of A 