Art Analysis

Whistlejacket

In the painting produced by George Stubbs in 1762, I can see a depiction of a horse by the name of Whistle jacket whose renowned for his famous victory in a race over four miles for a 2000 cash prize at York in August 1759.

In terms of background, I can see that there is a lack of content apart from the horse to show this sense of isolation from reality and to also keep things eye level on Whistlejacket.  Stubbs has made precise detail a value when he was producing this painting to make the viewer to read open cues. When I look at the eyes of the horse I can see this blameless glare which Stubbs highlights especially with white paint finish, this creates a sense of innocence; and as the eyes ­make a good focal point, it gives the viewer a first impression of what the context is about.     

I can see also that Stubbs has applied a fluent tonal variation from a dark brown head moving downwards to a lighter brown shade on the body to show the horse to create this positive flow of energy around him. Whistlejacket has this interesting inner character, body language wise, he starts off with a timid face and a pitiful glare, and it transits to an elegant body that defines every bright colour shades and every contraction of muscles indicate confidence; like a book changing from an introduction and getting more engaging. 

Stubbs has shown an astounding mastery of oil paint on this life size board. He has used compatible mixtures of brown, yellow ocher, and lighter shades of brown to suggest integrity in Whistlejacket. The thick but perfectly blended sways of yellow lines create this gestural imagery which tells me that he has a passion for racing.

The composition focuses on a centered horse in an uprising stance to suggest this liberation within him. Whistlejacket is not composed symmetrically or asymmetrically but I can see this radially formed figure through the roundness of the edges and this distinctive proportion of head to toe. As Whistlejacket is centered, in reference to the Golden section rule, it tells me that things in the middle have the least dynamism which also describes Whistlejacket as being playful but subtle.  

The Burlington House Cartoon

This is a preparatory drawing titled ‘The Burlington House Cartoon’ that Leonardo da Vinci began producing in October 1499 which was remained unfinished until 1505. Da Vinci, did not have the chance to finish this work as he was called back to Milan by the French Governor of the city.

           I can see in-conclusions of the work through certain parts such as the flat and line drawn background which has been left unrefined to make the 3D defined human figures of the Virgin, Jesus, etc stand out.

         I notice in the cartoon that Leonardo da Vinci has incorporated earthy colours of yellow ocher and hazy grey and textural concrete background to show this complexity and atmospheric environment that he come across from time to time during his daily life. Things in the image are overlapped together which gives me this feeling of rawness and I sense a slight in-hostility in the image even though the facial expressions of the human depictions do not show it. Its layered quality also shows that da Vinci’s making references of his awareness of the French invasion of Milan in 1500.

I have also noticed a sequential cues in the image. I notice that facially St Anne gazes at St Mary with a cheerful smile whereas Mary has a subtle smile whilst occupied on Christ to portray this ordinary group repartee. As I glance downwards I notice that there is a gestural flow through movement of their legs to show that they are creating a rhythm as Mary sits on the lap of her mother. Da Vinci has left the background pastel and put light shades on the  faces and bodies to highlight the harmony in the human figures. Personally, I think that Leonardo wanted to divide these contents through expressive sections and smooth sections to create this contrast of bitterness and grace.

The mediums used in this image were chalk and charcoal. The artist uses gentle strokes of chalk to create hazy shadows and blunt dark tones in dark areas to create this calm visual depth. I can see that he has applied fine black charcoal lines as a finish to makes the viewer read clarity in the image. 

Da Vinci also has a concept. He believes that poses, facial expressions and gesture, describes the motion of the mind. This might look obscured but when I gaze closely, I can see St Anne’s finger pointing to heaven hence this alludes that she is trying to anticipate Christ’s future which is presumably being in heaven with God. The hand looks inconclusive in contrast to the face and body that even though it might have been unintentional, it gives it a sense that he was trying to hide it so that the viewers can use their imagination to decode the image.

Reference:

•      The National Gallery. Whistlejacket. 1762                         

 www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/george-stubbs-whistlejacket

•             Roger Robinson’s Poem inspired by Whistlejacket                     

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/george-stubbs-whistlejacket 

•              Leonardo da Vinci. Artist Biography. 1452-1519                                

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/leonardo-da-vinci

                                  20th Century Art

Pablo Picasso

 (L’Accordeoniste 1911)

One of the most famous and inspiring artist of the Twentieth century is Pablo Picasso. A specialist of many styles and medium from printmaking to painting and from Blue period to Cubism.

Cubism is a traditional style which was developed by Picasso and his associate Georges Braque in Paris in the early twentieths. One of the subbranches of Cubism, is a Analytic Cubism, which was a dynamic style. It was a simplistic but significant part of Cubism which was practiced by both artists between 1907 and 1911 in France.

The Cubist was fond to working with Oil on canvas as its opaqueness and roughness creates a rough portrait. The movement Cubism greatly rejects well known methods of perspectives, structuring and the straight forward impressions of ordinary objects that maintains distinct. Picasso has produced shattered and rearranged objects to portray a visual analysis of day to day surroundings, hence forms the term ‘Cubism’. The subtlety in the brushstrokes is major, which makes the design graceful looking. 

The way Picasso has worked with a neutral colour palette conveys this earthy crossed with pastoral feel. The image has a vague quality, as the readership gaze at the centre they would see a depiction of an eye-drawing human figure; in my perspective a women playing a mandolin, this style that Picasso works with makes the image tough to read which presents ambiguousness. 

Compositionally, Picasso overlaps the background and foreground which presents this mislaid structure where contents would disband into the arrangement.

The limitations of colour palette creates a linear depth of an image. From reading the painting, I see that the focus greatly revolves around the centre of the painting, and as they is a big contrast between the pale black of the centre and the creamy ochre of what is around it, it suggests that he is opening up another layer of 3 Dimensionality.

Picasso often repeats shattered glasses and vases to create an endurance of pattern play; the same object would be displayed multiple times as if it was duplicated.

This crossover of lines and tones portrays his shear understanding of planning the coordination of which content is ordered where, and that suggests a mastery skill of mapping.