Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Caravaggio,Rembrandt,Vermeer Light.

Ciao.

I really hope that you had a good night sleep, and that the flight went well.
I just wanted to show you some of these paintings, to demonstrate what I was referring to.

Light is very important, in Art, in Architecture and of course, in Photography.

Every painting or Painter has something important and special that he does, and Knowing those things gives you the opportunity to look at things in a different way and understand them more, understand why they are special..

I will just post here for you some paintings, and I am sure you will understand by looking at them...

JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM BIGGER ..


This is a picture of Caravaggio (well, his real name was Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, but everyone just call him Caravaggio).. it is called Madonna Palafrenieri (Madonna with the serpent)



Now, look at how Important the light is, and how, with only light, he directs the viewer (you) towards the important part of the paintings, it is like your eyes are forced to go where he wants, and he does it with light only...

Now look at this picture :(it is called The Fortune-Teller.)



There is a slightly different use of light, but as you can see, the background light is very important, and also here - it focuses your eyes on the man in the picture.
Note the light - this is not a drawing of shades like normally the artist will do, but of LIGHT.

You remember I told you about a famous Caravaggio painting that for the first time showed emotions of the people on their faces ? this is the one ..




Also here, look at the light and how special it is in helping us understand the situation.


Now let's look at a painting of Rembrandt



This is a picture called Night Watch, I think that one can clearly see how important the light is, and the special way it was painted, without any explanation..

The next one is called Christ in a storm on the sea of Galilee (I guess the guy never really visited the Kineret - no storms there ..)



Again it is easy to see how the force of the wave, and the energy of nature is represented by only Light..

I will now just put two more Rembrandt pictures, and just try to look at them .
Notice that the light is being created BY ITSELF and not as a consequence of shadows.

The first one is called Anatomy lesson at dr. tulp



The second one is called :Pilgrims at Emmaus
The quaality is not nice, but you can still see what's important..



Now let's see another Dutch painter, Vermeer:

Vermeer was a special painter, here is the painting I told you about, the farmer woman (Milk maid) which is considered to be one of the first paintings that represented a "normal" person in a normal every day situation, and not someone from the royalty.




Also here, although in a different way, you can see the special role of light, and how it goes behind on the wall, and on her hand skin in a very soft way.
He almost always painted his scenes next to a Window , so one can understand where the light is coming from.


The next picture you probably know very well.. It is called The girl with the pearl earring. There was a recent film about it ..



Again. look at the different technique, when painting with light instead of shadows .
And look how beutiful aand bright her earing is .

and last one : (officer with laughing girl)



Look how beautiful her face is with the light, and how it seems to be in the middle of the picture, even if it is not in the physical center of the painting...



Now, Just for better understanding, here is a picture of another artist FROM THE SAME PERIOD. A very famous artist called Rubens. This painting is called Hippopotamus hunt.




Rubens is very important and known for the ENERGY in his paintings.. but as you can see for yourself, there is nothing special about the light . and it is the same period. now after seeing this picture, go back and look at the others, and you will immediately see what I meant by saying "painting the light ".

Ok, I really do not want to make it boring for you, but just last paintings from Hopper.

Edward Hopper is an American painter, and the special thing about him is that he paints COLORED SHADOWS and a very intense Light ..

Just look at these, I will not talk about these, but only look how beautiful and powerful his light is and ..look at the COLOR OF THE SHADOW ! Shadow suddenly is not only gray, It has colors !












SSOooo...

That's it .

I hope you were not disappointed from this small surprise, and that you were not bored, But I told you not to wait too much, and actuallt it was notreally a surprise because you practically knew what it was (Almost).I can guarantee to you, that if you will UNDERSTAND this light thing, than you could easilly understand composition, geometry and later on, also references. and that will be the end of the "art exam" fears..
Anyway,

Have a great day and good luck for the exam...
K99