Art Institute Field Trip : Classical Portion

 This is a Van Gogh piece made in 1887. It's a little less on the classical side but I added it to this blog because it's a good play on the typical still life of fruit. As you can see, Van Gogh used contemporary colors throughout the whole work and wide brushstrokes to form the table cloth. This placement and angle of each brushstroke for the table cloth gives great motion to the painting. He also used thicker, more pronounced white paint to give a shine to the fruit. When viewing this piece, the first thing you see is the fruit. The tablecloth is sort of a blur behind the vibrantly colored food. Once the eye hits the background, it follows all the little lines that surround the painting. I love this painting because it's a play on your typical "bowl of fruit" painting. Although it does not look like the real thing, as most classical paintings do, it gives a fresh approach to the concept.

 Now, this is your typical Classical painting. The details are extraordinary along with the use of color, light and shadow. The brushwork is small and meticulous in order to create a smooth appearance to the work. The orange shirt of the male pops out nicely against the somewhat earth-like tones that take up the rest of the painting. The muscles of the animals are pronounced, same with the feathers of the swan. If you step up very close to this painting even more detail and characters come out at you. Under the table there are cats peering out at you. From far away you are unable to see them because they blend in with the shadowing. This is unbelievable craftsmanship. When viewing this painting I personally start at the swan because it's brighter than the rest and work my way across the table of animals. I then come back and notice the man; it's after this that I can take in the whole piece at once. I predict that the man is either a hunter or a salesman selling food for the people.

This is an even earlier Classical painting yet once again the attempt to recreate reality is wonderful. The colors are very saturated and rich which gives this piece a very upscale feel to it. The folds in the clothing with the hints of lightened value to reflect light are beautiful. The baby's skin looks soft and smooth, you can almost picture feeling his pudgy body. When viewing this painting, the eye goes straight for the woman and baby. The characters in the back are somewhat faded out which gives intentional focus to the mother and child in front. The eye wanders around the folds of the clothing and shadows beneath the neck until it reaches the soft skin of the child. I believe this is a religious piece, the characters in the back seem to be holding a bible and praying together. If I am seeing correctly, the man and young child to the left have halos above their heads as well.