Activity #7: Write About It!! MIDTERM Exhibition

The 19th century brought forth many noteworthy paintings. Joseph Mallord William Turner’s 1827 work, “Mortlake Terrace,” Berthe Morisot’s 1869 work, “The Harbor at Lorient,” and Eugène Boudin’s two works “Coast of Brittany,” 1870, and “Entrance to the Harbor,” 1883, all beautifully portray ships in their oil on canvas. On the other hand, the two 1872 oil on canvas paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Alfred Sisley, “The Forest of Coubron, Le Havre” and “Boulevard Héloïse, Argenteuil,” depict alternate modes of transportation. Though they differ simply by what they illustrate, the paintings all share a common purpose and theme: looking outward, simply observing and expressing the on goings of their time. To convey this theme the artists make use of similar design elements.

One design element that all of the artists use to portray their theme is line. Line is a path traced by a moving point (Getlein, 82). In the works by Turner, Morisot, and Boudin, strong horizontal lines are present. In contrast to these horizontal lines, the masts of ships and trees in the paintings present vertical lines that intersect the horizontal lines. The two pieces by Corot and Sisley, however, are dominated by vertical lines as can be seen in the presence of trees and houses that line the street in Sisley’s painting and the trees in Corot’s. Line is not the only element that all the artists make use of though.

Another element of design that is common to all the paintings is implied light. Implied light is a type of radiant energy present in the painting that gives a three dimensional aspect to figures in a work (90-91). In Turner’s work, we understand that the light is coming straight at us. We know this because of the shimmer reflected off the water and the shadows cast by the trees fall toward us. Like Turner, Corot’s “The Forest of Coubron” and Boudin’s “Entrance to the Harbor, Le Havre” depict implied light that comes at us from the horizon. The bright upper left corner of Corot’s work shows the light direction and the bright sphere on the horizon in Boudin’s piece confirms the implied light. Morisot’s “The Harbor at Lorient” and Sisley’s “Boulevard Héloïse, Argenteuil” both have implied light that comes from the right of the paintings. In Sisley’s work, the contrast in value on the sides of the buildings reflect shadows. Value is shades of light and dark or the relative lightness and darkness (92, 96). In Morisot’s work, contrast in value also portrays shadow as seen on the darkened face of the woman resting on the wall. In Boudin’s earlier work, “Coast of Brittany,” the implied light is much more difficult to recognize. The far coast in the painting is light while the coastline in the foreground is darkened. The overcast sky suggests that the light source is from above and the coastline in the foreground is under cloud cover, while the distance coast is exposed.

Finally, all the works present the element of space called linear perspective. Linear perspective is based in the systematic application of two observations; that form seem to diminish in size as they recede away from us, and parallel lines receding into the distance seem to converge, until they meet at a point on the horizon line where they disappear (108-109). Common to all the masterpieces is the diminishing pathways to some point in the distance. With this the artists are able to depict purpose, because it seems that the objects in the paintings have some destination to achieve.

Turner, Morisot, Boudin, Corot and Sisley all create similar, yet distinctly different pieces using many of the same elements. The underlying theme present in all is one concerned with the activities taking place not the objects themselves. Looking outward, the artists observed their surroundings and were able to capture and preserve the simplicity of life in the 19th century which made these works timeless.

Sources:
Getlein, Mark. Living With Art. 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill. 2008
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. http://www.nga.gov/