Early American Artist Benjamin West

This paper can analyze the context within which the work of art, "Death on the Pale Horse" was created. The discussion also will determine the medium that the creator selected still as highlight a number of the additional fascinating aspects of this Benjamin West painting.

The artist paints many onlookers around the central group. Another noticeable difference in the two pictures is that Wolf includes women in his picture which relates back to his cultural understanding of Indians. Taylor’s picture is definitely representational while Wolf’s is abstract. John Taylor’s work is more realistic when compared to the art of Howling Wolf. Visualizing reality in the two pieces, is simple. Taylor has a much more realistic piece while Wolf’s abstract art, the viewer has a more difficult time visualizing the actual event. Wolf’s work, at first glance, appears to be childlike and he uses the bright primary colors while Taylor uses the black and white. The composition of the art work describes the arrangement of the visual elements of people, landscapes, space in the pictures and the organization of the elements. In Taylor’s work one finds the use balance and contrast to emphasize his black and white picture. However, Wolf uses color and form to generate a purposefully abstract picture. Thus, composition is the placement of the visual elements in each work of art.

The heavenly portrayal of the background and foreground shows a flawless use of space. The distance between the foreground and background was well selected for this piece. This is die to the fact that the two children are not close enough to exaggerate the way they look but they are also not too far away. The distance covered in the background communicates a message of clarity and relaxation that is evident in the children's faces. Two dimensional portrayal of the painting appears to fit the calculated purpose. The

The manipulation of perspective was not only significant for symbolic meaning. It was used as a visual tool in order to create the “magic” that the painting is known for. Because the vanishing point is approximately 5 feet from the bottom of the picture, which is practically floor level, this allows for both the top and bottom of the picture to come together and establishes an illusion of an actual structure. While this “created space” within the picture appears to be real, it is actually just one of the

A lucent crescent of the moon is seen on the top right hand corner of the painting where dramatic contours and fluidity of the brushworks are seen due to the Japonisme influences. Moreover, the eleven stars and the rolling hills are depicted moving to the momentum of the swirling sky.

It is almost a reflection of the man’s trident. That same pitchfork shape also appears in the window of the house that sits in between both figure’s heads. Repetition can also be seen in the dotted pattern of the woman’s outfit, which also appears in the material of the curtain that hangs in the house’s window. The echo of verticals in this painting is also strong. The faces and bodies of the figures seem to be stretched, and narrowed. The pitchfork’s slender prongs and the green stripes on the man’s shirt also add to the elongation of their frame. The copious amounts of vertical wood boards that make up the house and the barn, keep the viewer’s eye moving up and down the picture plane. Wood’s use of verticality in this painting is overwhelming.

It is a famous example of Renaissance art showing portraiture, realism, and some perspective. In this painting there are four distinct characters. Each has a different expression that shows how they are feeling. There is also more detail in the faces then in any other parts of the painting. Another technique it demonstrates is heightened realism. Whereas before the Renaissance the figures may have been painted simply and in only enough detail to get the general idea across, these figures are shown more realistically. Lastly there is the technique of perspective as shown in the background of the painting. The sea stretches out into the sky and the land in the background is shown how it would look if the viewer was actually

The lines within the composition draws the viewer into several directions. The ruffles draw the eyes upward to the Daniel’s finger as it points to the right. Daniel’s finger directs the viewer horizontally as it does the king. The table with its array of dishes is another example of a horizontal line. The king’s hands are holding a fork and knife. The fork is also pointing right where as the knife is pointing left diagonally towards the king. The courtesan, leaning against the king’s right shoulder, is another example of a diagonal line. The painting also has a vertical feel to it. This is evident in the composition of Daniel standing, the candle and the arm holding the cigar. Like every line, every color used draw attention to the object.

From her auburn curls cascading from beneath her tilted hat, to her arm positioning, the trees, clouds, down to the tiniest blades of grass, they all slant one way or the other. The artist has utilized the diagonal line is multiple ways; the slight angles that Reynolds incorporated into each area provides a sense of movement in what could have been a dry and stagnant scene. Along with movement, there lies an illusion of depth: paired with shading, the use of line gives the perception of more area being included than there actually is. These lines also direct the viewer’s eye toward the sitter. Objects located around the edges of the composition lean towards the center, pulling the viewer’s glance directly to the

4. Space- Perspective is demonstrated in many ways. This artwork takes up almost the whole canvas. The horses on the edge look like they were maybe even squeezed in. All of the characters in this artwork look to be congregated to the middle of the painting, besides the villages in the distance. Linear perspective is used in the placement of the villages in the background and in all the men and horses, which are grouped in the middle of the screen. Looking at the features in the painting I notice the use of overlapping and vertical placement, which both imply depth. The horses overlap each other as well as the gentlemen and other elements of the painting. The brown horse’s head overlaps the black one hiding its mouth. The villages and hills in the background appear to be very far away (diminishing size); they look smaller and distant from the rest of the main aspects of the painting.

His hand is positioned on the bottom left of the frame with the fingers and palm situated towards the middle left side. The shoulders positioned in the top third cut through representing a horizon. The direction of the fingers makes your eye travel around the painting, the tie the slices through the middle of the shirt, the cuff of the shirt cuts across to stop your eye falling out of the frame, the lightness balancing all the darkness. The mouth dominates the image and drags you eye back to the

Being inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s illustrious painting Starry Night, Anne Sexton uses imagery, metaphor, and allusion to write the poem The Starry Night which indicates her not only shares the mental issue and suicide propensity with Vincent but also the deep desire for religion. Anne Sexton, a great female poet, is diagnosed with depression and gets hard mental hit due to the death of her aunt; thus, she attempts to suicide many times. Same as Vincent Van Gogh, Anne also expresses her feeling toward life and death in scene to release her gloominess. In her poem The Starry Night, she fully develops her inner thoughts on alienation and loneliness. First of all, Anne uses metaphor to describe the painting, pointing out her unique reflection to the painting and the mental creativity.

Further more, in the painting, “the Gleaners”, the entire screen is filled with contrast elements. First of all, the main figures in the front labor scene are full of rich vigor, contrasting to the background with silent objects such as hay, trees and farmhouse. Secondly, the color brightness of the front contrast to the back, as well as the comparison of relative sizes between figures and scenery, applying the principle of perspective. What’s more, the most classic is the horizontal line, the intersection of the sky and the ground, contrasting with the light source, from the top left. Consequently, 2D and 3D spatial effects are combined precisely. Meanwhile, the sense of space of the image is strengthened as well.

A man and woman are walking over the bridge while a dog is walking toward them, and another man is gazing out in the water. In this painting I have three orthogonal lines starting with the first one on the top corner of the building on the left side. This line then follows across the roofline, down through the man walking’s neck, through the woman’s skirt. This line then finishes on the cement and ending on the shadow of the dog. Orthogonal line two starts at the end of the bridge railing on the bottom right side. The line then continues down the railing, crossing through the old man in green and through the woman and man walking near each other. This line will end on the building in the left corner and right above the buggy by finishing on the building. The third and final line starts along the sidewalk on the bottom left side, leading up the sidewalk and going through the man’s coat, head and hat, while ending on building in the middle of the painting. The vanishing point leads us to the man that’s walking’s head while he is looking away at the water. This vanishing point pulls the focus of the painting on the man and also the women next to him on the bridge.

This painting is divided into three equal parts by the arches in the background and the characters correspond to each of these arches (TV12). The father is in the middle portion of the painting. The lines of perspective created by the tiled floor, draws our attention to the swords that the father is holding and the vanishing point lies just behind the handles of the sword. Our angle of vision is such that we are looking directly at the main figures groups, particularly the father. A single light source from the left of the picture illuminates the characters and also focuses our attention to the father holding the sword. This creates a ‘theatrical’ effect. The background is simple and stark so our attention is focussed on the figure groups in the painting. The painting has a wide tonal range that makes the composition logical and balanced. The colours used in this