Frederic Edwin Church and Rene’ Magritte are two artist from the Modern Period. Church is an American and Magritte is French. Frederic Edwin Church created a painting called “Fog off Mount Desert”. It was revealed in 1850, during the Industrial Revolution. This was a time of economic peril and social upheaval. The change of hand crafting to production by machinery was strongly reflected in the art of that time. Rene’ Magritte created “La Condition Humaine” in 1933. The time period of this painting was during the Depression. The Depression followed an economic crash of the stock market and was the poorest time of our country. Both artists exhibit similar styles and themes of nature. They have both painted numerous pieces of representational art, descriptive works of art that depict forms in the natural world. These two artists also chose the medium of oil on canvas for their works of art. The main reason for this choice is primarily allow more time for manipulation and the ability to make any changes thought of at a later time.
In the “Fog off Mount Desert” by Church the subject of matter is Mount Desert. The painting is centered on the rocks making this the focal point of the painting. The theme of this painting is art and nature, which is depicted in this painting by the use of water, mountains, and sky. Bringing these different subjects of nature creates a harmony of complement. The boat floating calmly on the ocean is an addition of non nature being added to the harmony of the painting. It leaves its contents up to the viewer's imagination,
yet it doesn't disrupt or take your attention away from the emphasis. The colors were used to further accentuate the unity and complement of the mountain, sky, and ocean.
In “La Condition Humaine” by Magritte, the focal point is on the tree in the painting. Usually the theme of a painting is depicted in the title, but you may be slightly confused about the theme of this painting due to the title. By observation there is a theme of art and nature due to there being no people in the painting and the concentration on the trees, grass, and bushes. The colors in this painting are cool and there is a design of unity in the painting. Nature is a natural complement of harmony. Now if you are interpreting the theme from the title you would assume there is some human experience in the painting. This can be determined from the fact the painting is inside the house and the use of the curtains and the window show a separation from nature. It is assumed Magritte painted the portrait and based it off what he saw looking outside the window and the placement of the painting to use actual nature as the background.
In the painting “La Condition Humaine” by Rene' Magritte the design of this painting is similar to “The Fog of Mount Desert”, such as the use of unity and variety. The balance of the painting is also asymmetrical; once again the left appears heavier or fuller than the right. The balance is pulled together by the window and the curtains. The tree draws in your attention and then pulls it outside the window and into the sky and then towards the trees further out. The curtain draws your attention back inside the window and reveals the separation of the painting inside the painting and the scenery outside the window. The movement of these focal points also shows the rhythm of the painting.
The “Fog of Mount Desert” by Frederic Edwin Church is an example of atmospheric perspective; which based on observation, distant objects appear less distinct, paler, and bluer than nearby objects due to the way moisture in the atmosphere scatters light. Due to the directional lines, which direct our eyes around an image and to suggest movement, your focus begins at the water taking you to Mount Desert, then up to the sky, and over to the boat and off into the horizon. The colors the artist used are complementary. It reflects the use of a tint, a cooler lighter than a hue's normal value, an example is pink, to accentuate the horizon. This piece has a flow of low intensity, the relative purity or brightness of a color. It is soft and pale. Mount Desert appears to be the figure of the most focus and the water and sky are the background. The “Fog off Mount Desert” is full of complementary harmonies, colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel, from the blue to the violet of the sky and the blue to green of the water. These are also cool colors.
In the second painting chosen, “La Condition Humaine” by Rene' Magritte, there is some similarity to the “The Fog of Mount Desert”. This piece of art grabbed my attention instantaneously. The artist directs your focus by using directional lines, to take your focus from the painting to outside the window. The blue of the sky is a tint of the primary color, cannot be made by any mixture of the other colors, blue. "La Condition Humaine" is an example of atmospheric perspective, based on the observation that distant objects appear less distinct, paler, and bluer than nearby objects, by the window and the curtains appearing closer to the viewer and the actual painting blending in with the outside view appearing far off. The trees and bushes appear to be miles and miles away.
In “Fog off Mount Desert” and “La Condition Humaine”, both artist used hidden brush strokes to showcase the images in their paintings. There are a lot of similarities in these paintings as far as the theme, use of cool colors, and complementary harmonies. This paper discusses those similarities and some of the differences of the two featured paintings. Even with the time periods and the ordeals that were faced when creating these paintings, they both exhibit calmness and relaxation; one with the ocean and the sky, the other with the trees, grass, and sky. Nature is calming and relaxing. That is why I chose theses paintings for my Art class.
In the “Fog off Mount Desert” by Church the subject of matter is Mount Desert. The painting is centered on the rocks making this the focal point of the painting. The theme of this painting is art and nature, which is depicted in this painting by the use of water, mountains, and sky. Bringing these different subjects of nature creates a harmony of complement. The boat floating calmly on the ocean is an addition of non nature being added to the harmony of the painting. It leaves its contents up to the viewer's imagination,
yet it doesn't disrupt or take your attention away from the emphasis. The colors were used to further accentuate the unity and complement of the mountain, sky, and ocean.
In “La Condition Humaine” by Magritte, the focal point is on the tree in the painting. Usually the theme of a painting is depicted in the title, but you may be slightly confused about the theme of this painting due to the title. By observation there is a theme of art and nature due to there being no people in the painting and the concentration on the trees, grass, and bushes. The colors in this painting are cool and there is a design of unity in the painting. Nature is a natural complement of harmony. Now if you are interpreting the theme from the title you would assume there is some human experience in the painting. This can be determined from the fact the painting is inside the house and the use of the curtains and the window show a separation from nature. It is assumed Magritte painted the portrait and based it off what he saw looking outside the window and the placement of the painting to use actual nature as the background.
In the painting “La Condition Humaine” by Rene' Magritte the design of this painting is similar to “The Fog of Mount Desert”, such as the use of unity and variety. The balance of the painting is also asymmetrical; once again the left appears heavier or fuller than the right. The balance is pulled together by the window and the curtains. The tree draws in your attention and then pulls it outside the window and into the sky and then towards the trees further out. The curtain draws your attention back inside the window and reveals the separation of the painting inside the painting and the scenery outside the window. The movement of these focal points also shows the rhythm of the painting.
The “Fog of Mount Desert” by Frederic Edwin Church is an example of atmospheric perspective; which based on observation, distant objects appear less distinct, paler, and bluer than nearby objects due to the way moisture in the atmosphere scatters light. Due to the directional lines, which direct our eyes around an image and to suggest movement, your focus begins at the water taking you to Mount Desert, then up to the sky, and over to the boat and off into the horizon. The colors the artist used are complementary. It reflects the use of a tint, a cooler lighter than a hue's normal value, an example is pink, to accentuate the horizon. This piece has a flow of low intensity, the relative purity or brightness of a color. It is soft and pale. Mount Desert appears to be the figure of the most focus and the water and sky are the background. The “Fog off Mount Desert” is full of complementary harmonies, colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel, from the blue to the violet of the sky and the blue to green of the water. These are also cool colors.
In the second painting chosen, “La Condition Humaine” by Rene' Magritte, there is some similarity to the “The Fog of Mount Desert”. This piece of art grabbed my attention instantaneously. The artist directs your focus by using directional lines, to take your focus from the painting to outside the window. The blue of the sky is a tint of the primary color, cannot be made by any mixture of the other colors, blue. "La Condition Humaine" is an example of atmospheric perspective, based on the observation that distant objects appear less distinct, paler, and bluer than nearby objects, by the window and the curtains appearing closer to the viewer and the actual painting blending in with the outside view appearing far off. The trees and bushes appear to be miles and miles away.
In “Fog off Mount Desert” and “La Condition Humaine”, both artist used hidden brush strokes to showcase the images in their paintings. There are a lot of similarities in these paintings as far as the theme, use of cool colors, and complementary harmonies. This paper discusses those similarities and some of the differences of the two featured paintings. Even with the time periods and the ordeals that were faced when creating these paintings, they both exhibit calmness and relaxation; one with the ocean and the sky, the other with the trees, grass, and sky. Nature is calming and relaxing. That is why I chose theses paintings for my Art class.
