National Gallery
October 30, 2017
But here is a little heads up, if you enter through the main building, you will start of with older paintings and slowly make your way to more 'modern' artists such as Monet and Van Ghoh. You should exit from a different entrance to the one you started with. If like me, you exit from the same way you came in, then you have missed out on a whole lot of artists, so go back in. :P
To digress a bit, can we just stop and appreciate the beauty of the architecture.
Look at that arch! I love the fact that they spared no expense at making the interior look so extravagant. I felt that it really helped to established the mood.
These are a few examples of the works which I thought the artist did an incredible work with the finer details. I really appreciate how effortlessly the colours blend into one another as well as I feel that with some later artists, you can really see the heavy influence of primary colours on them. Wheras with these, you can barely see the Red, Blue and Yellow! If you have tried painting before, you will realise that it is extremely difficult to achieve the perfect shade and for these artists to not only achieve the desired shades and colours, but to include the shadows and all the different hues within them, brilliant!
These are a few examples of the works which I thought the artist did an incredible work with the finer details. I really appreciate how effortlessly the colours blend into one another as well as I feel that with some later artists, you can really see the heavy influence of primary colours on them. Wheras with these, you can barely see the Red, Blue and Yellow! If you have tried painting before, you will realise that it is extremely difficult to achieve the perfect shade and for these artists to not only achieve the desired shades and colours, but to include the shadows and all the different hues within them, brilliant!
I also noticed that with the older paintings, the colours are more muted and tends towards a more realistic tone. They are framed with thick gold frames against either a bright bold wallpaper (like the one above) or a patterned wallpaper. My favourite was probably this section with the pastel blue and swirls.
I have an immense amount of respect for those artists in the 1400-1800, because I think they have an amazing eye for colour and detail. I can not even fathom to think how long they might take to complete just one painting because the details on them is simply excruciating!
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| Canon Bernardijn Salviati & The 3 Saints (About 1501) Gerard David/ Oil On Oak |
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| Details from a painting titled "Madame De Pompadour At Her Tambour Frame" (1763-4) Francis Hubert Drouais/ Oil On Canvas |
These are a few examples of the works which I thought the artist did an incredible work with the finer details. I really appreciate how effortlessly the colours blend into one another as well as I feel that with some later artists, you can really see the heavy influence of primary colours on them. Wheras with these, you can barely see the Red, Blue and Yellow! If you have tried painting before, you will realise that it is extremely difficult to achieve the perfect shade and for these artists to not only achieve the desired shades and colours, but to include the shadows and all the different hues within them, brilliant!
Here are some of my personal favourites:
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| An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump (1768) Joseph Wright Of Derby/ Oil On Canvas "The candlelit setting is characteristic of Wright's interest in dramatic contrast in light and shade" |
Edit: I found out that this dramatic use of light and tones in painting is better known as "Chiaroscuro" and another artist whom I absolutely love who employs this is Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst, also known as Gherardo Delle Notti.
Honthorst is one of my favourite artists and I love how he plays with the contrast between lighting and shadows, and in turn, the atmosphere it creates.
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| 1st: Cenotaph To The Memory Of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1833-6) 2nd: Stratford Mill (1820) 3rd: - John Constable/ Oil On Canvas |
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| The Stove In The Studio (1865) Paul Cezanne/ Oil On Canvas "Evokes the privation of Cezanne's bohemian existence in Paris" |
Unlike some of the other paintings shown, this is quite a simple piece, but I like its simplicity and composition. Also, if you notice, this painting is hung against a plain white wall, and not against a bold print. Remember at the start, I mentioned that this gallery is actually a lot bigger than it appears and split up into older pieces and 19 century art. This is one of the give a way sign that you are slowly transition from the older pieces to some of the later century artwork featuring Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin...etc.
One of the biggest difference in artwork is that from the 19 century onwards, there is a lot more new art movement such like impressionism, pointillism that we are more familiar with. The colours are also significantly more vibrant with visible brush strokes. I believe, because the paintings itself are more expressive, the walls are toned down to accommodate them, thus the change in bold wallpapers to plain plaster walls.
I did not bother taking photos under this section as I am more familiar with them, but here is a piece by Sargent and Monet, so you may get the "feel" of what I am trying to convey.
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| The Water Lily Pond (1899) Claude Monet |
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| Wineglasses (1875) John Singer Sargent "Light brushwork reveals the influence of the Impressionist" |
To end off, I shall share with you a painting by a cheeky artist I saw in the gallery. And also because even though this was done in the 1500s, I think it is still something that we can all identify with, even to this day.
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| An Old Woman/ "The Ugly Duchess" (Around 1513) Quinten Massys/ Oil On Oak "Intended to satirise old woman who try to inappropriately recreate their youth" |
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