French Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley was fond of painting water scenes like many of the Impressionists. He painted The Seine at Argenteuil in 1872. In this picture, two boats sail on the river near Paris while others are at the far bank. The tree of the left foreground, in particular, its leaves are exploited for …
In this 1891 painting September Evening, artist Maurice Denis seems to have equal regard for the forms of the actual world and abstraction. For instance, the female figures are recognizable as such but their faces are obscured, and they seem to be more part of a decorative aesthetic scheme rather than portraits or psychological studies. …
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a 1644 Religious Painting by French Baroque artist Georges de la Tour. Analysis of The Adoration of the Shepherds Using his typical chiaroscuro or dramatic light-to-dark contrast, Georges de la Tour brings intimacy to this 1644 picture titled The Adoration of the Shepherds which is heightened by our proximity …
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William Holman Hunt’s 1884 painting of Amaryllis, who was the famed and mythic shepherdess of the ancient Roman poet Virgil’s Eclogues. Here, Hunt in the naturalistic style of Pre-Raphaelitism transplants the shepherdess to the contemporary English countryside. The clothing is contemporary but Hunt also, as well as his meticulous study of detail, draws on a …
Good Friends is a 1909 Genre Landscape painting by American Impressionist artist William Merritt Chase. It is in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Analysis of Chase’s Good Friends This picture depicts an Impressionistic treatment of flowers and plants which is typical of Chase. The colors shift before our eyes, bringing almost …
In Girl with a Hoop, by French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, we see a girl, in pale blue, who holds the golden hoop looking out just past the viewer. She has paused her play for the artist who delicately paints the various textures of the girl’s dress and ribbon, and makes of the ground a …
Times of the Day, Night is a 1757 landscape painting by French Baroque artist Joseph Vernet. Times of the Day, Night Analysis Four Times of the Day, Night is the fourth in a series of four 1757 landscape paintings by French artist Joseph Vernet, depicting different scenes at different times of the day. A man …
Times of the Day, Evening is a 1757 landscape painting by French Baroque artist Joseph Vernet. Times of the Day, Evening Analysis Four Times of the Day, Evening is the third in a series of four 1757 landscape paintings by French artist Joseph Vernet, depicting different scenes at different times of the day. The storm …
Times of the Day, Midday is a 1757 landscape painting by French Baroque artist Joseph Vernet. Times of the Day, Midday Analysis Four Times of the Day, Midday is the second in a series of four 1757 landscape paintings by French artist Joseph Vernet, depicting different scenes at different times of the day. Here the …
Times of the Day, Morning is a 1757 landscape painting by French Baroque artist Joseph Vernet. Times of the Day, Morning Analysis Four Times of the Day, Morning is the first in a series of four 1757 landscape paintings by French artist Joseph Vernet, depicting different scenes at different times of the day. This is …
In this dusky scene of a sunset at Moret in North-Central France, French painter Alfred Sisley uses the falling mist to clad the surroundings in a near-spiritual mystery as the light itself seems to override the importance of the picture’s objects. Sisley painted this work in 1888. Alfred Sisley’s Sunset at Moret is in the …
The Girl in a Japanese Costume is painted by William Merritt Chase in a silk kimono at an oblique angle from us as if momentarily distracted from a daydream. The decorative design of the kimono is exploited by Chase for his nebulous coloring in bright hues and it stands out from the simple beige background. …
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The Birthday is an 1868 portrait of William Holman Hunt’s second wife Edith Waugh, the sister of his deceased wife Fanny. Edith wears dark clothing with a mastery of different features while holding, among other things, roses, a necklace, and a decorative fan. Edith’s expression is melancholic and she seems to shrink from the very …
The Empire of Flora is a 1743 mythological painting by Italian Rococo artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It is located in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco, California. Analysis of Tiepolo’s The Empire of Flora The Empire of Flora is Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s version of the Roman Springtime festival Floralis and simultaneously a vision of …
In contrast to Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s portraits, precision is cast to the wind in Children at the Beach at Guernsey from 1883. Titled ‘Enfants au bord de la mer à Guernesey’ in French, Renoir’s concern here is to evoke a windswept and sunny day, and the very wind seems to conspire with the painter to bleed …
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French Impressionist artist Alfred Sisley painted A Street in Moret, North-Central France in 1890. Sisley’s sky, which takes up half of the canvas, sees the use of the palette knife which lends a thickness and a substantial character to it that is offset by the delicate painting of the figures and buildings. There is a …
French artist Maurice Denis painted Portrait of Marthe, his wife, in 1893, the year of their marriage. Her features are delicately and accurately drawn and reveal a certain shyness. In contrast with the accuracy of the portrayal of his wife, Denis offers a highly stylized and almost eerily beautiful background illuminated by moonlight, with simplified …
The Penitent Magdalene is an undated Religious Painting by French Baroque artist Georges de la Tour. Analysis of The Penitent Magdalene The Penitent Magdalene is an exquisite somber scene by Georges de la Tour where Mary Magdalene meditates on her past life of sin with true contrition. She is turned from us as if from …
