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The Marvelous Sauce

Decent Essays

The Marvelous Sauce painted by Jehan Vibert in 1890 is a part of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery 's permanent collection. Located in Buffalo, New York, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery is best known for its collection of modern art rather than its number of older masterpieces. Therefore this late Nineteenth-century painting kept hung on the gallery 's wall is worth taking a closer look at. It is a delightful work of art to admire, but also holds a deeper meaning. What first catches the viewer 's eyes are the vivid colors used in the painting. Ultimately what jumps out the most is the man on the right 's red robe. The artist intended this for a reason, discussed later. The room where the men are standing is front lit. Also the atmosphere is …show more content…

Post-impressionists disliked the unfinished quality of Impressionist paintings. They believed in the deliberate arrangement of subjects in the composition, and that this composition was more important than the effects of light. However, Vibert 's painting is also not entirely post-impressionist in nature, but influenced by post-impressionistic ideas. Made in the late nineteenth century, it exists as a lead-off into the twentieth century styles of art. At this time the camera was gaining popularity and photography was used for portraiture and to capture important events. This kitchen scene could have been created with use of a camera. But a camera captures a likeness, while an artist produces art. According to Smith 's write up on The Marvelous Sauce on the Albright-Knox 's web site this painting also functions as social commentary, and clerical scenes were popular at this time (Smith). The man in red who is the central focus of the painting is a Cardinal, a high ranking church official. The other man in the picture is his chef. The largeness of the kitchen and the copious copper pots are meant to be a testament of the cardinal 's wealth. It is clearly the Cardinal himself who has prepared the sauce and in the scene he has given it to the chef to taste. The Cardinal appears delighted at his creation while the chef "is

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