Albert Bierstadt The Rocky Mountains Lander's Peak





Jean Antoine Watteau Embarkation for Cythera


The first piece i'd like to talk about is The Rocky Mountain Lander's Peak. This painting is probably one of the painting that captured my attention the most. At first i couldn't tell it was even a painting. I thought it was a photograph. Everything about this picture was phenomenal. The contrast between light and dark, the colors, the values of each color, the mass, even how you can see far being the mountains but it's hard to make out. This picture is so incredibly realistic i blew my mind. My favorite part about it is how the water from the lake reflects the rocks.

The next piece i wanted to talk about it Jean Antoine Watteau's Embarkation for Cythera. This painting is really interesting. At the right side the all the values of the colors are darker. As you follow the picture to the left, the values become lighter. On the right, the images are sharp and as you look further left the images become less sharp. It's like a dream. Like you're going from being alive to being merely a belief, which is that after death you become an angel and go to heaven. On the left are angels. these angels are painted in an unclear way making it seem like it's not a guarantee. The shape of the world in this picture, the texture, the lines and masses all make the picture seem surreal.

The two authors have some similarities. The general contrast of light and dark is realistic, the figures portrayed all have realistic qualities. Both pictures are of a landscape. They both use lines to direct our attention. In the Rocky Mountain Picture are attention is draws to the center of the picture where the lake and waterfall is. In the Embarkation to Cythera picture our attention is drawn from left to right or right to left. The difference between the two artists is that the first artist painting a more realistic painting. The Second artist's painting is more surreal. It involves both heaven and earth and mixes them into one picture; kind of like a mixer. Both artists, however, are artists i would recommend.