Viewing Art at the Reynolda House

Mekenna Boswell

Professor Young

ART 111 - ART Appreciation

March 27, 2017

Walking into the museum was like walking into the 1900s; it was vintage, and

house warming filled with beautiful paintings and flowers. I was then drawn to the
composition of Jasper Cropseys oil on canvas and wanted to explore more of his

painting the Mounts Adam and Eve created in 1872. First your eyes are directed to the

beautiful bright fall leaves (red, orange, yellow, and pink colors are seen) in the tall trees

in the right of the painting. The highlighted trees are surrounded by darkened trees

showing that the sun is not shining on them. Noticing the difference between the value;

your eyes start to trace to the middle ground where there is a pattern of trees brightened

by the sun in the background. The eyes then wander to the west side of the painting past

two mountain peaks towards the light which comes from the setting sun. Furthermore,

you will notice small details Cropsey included in the painting, such as a man sitting on a

boulder in the shade of the tall tree with a woman sitting in front of him. Also the tall

tree is uprooted, plus there is a river with many bends in the valley of the middle ground.

The artist gives the painting an atmospheric perspective displaying the different levels of

land and sky. The sky shows colors of a yellow at the horizon line and gradually

becomes a blue as your eyes trace the painting to the right top corner. Overall, the

composition of his painting was intriguing.

I believe that Jasper Cropsey is trying to portray a Christian life through his

painting Mounts Adam and Eve. The life starts where we are drawn to first, the

uprooted tree symbolizing the Christian being brought up to God. Next is the wild river

in the valley representing our renewal. Moreover, the two peaks most likely displaying

Adam and Eve or redemption; then the light past them would be the heavens.

Cropsey uses many elements to complete his oil canvas, but he mostly uses the

elements color, texture, and the principle emphasis. In the painting he has a variety of fall
colors, but he shows the element of color by displaying bright bright and dark shades of

leaves. He shows texture with the rough bark on trees, fluffy leaves, rough but silky

grass, water smoothly runs, and etc. Emphasis is also shown by highlighting the trees

that are being shined on by the heavens, and surrounding those highlighted trees with

darkened trees.

The beautiful bright fall colors of the oil painting attracted me to the artwork. The

weakest point of the painting would be the setting sun because it is not clear to where the

sun actually is. The strongest point of the artwork being the value the artist uses plus

how he displays such details in his painting. This piece of art will stay in my memory

because of the message I received from the painting.

As I kept walking through the museum I noticed many oil paintings which

showed texture, but I then noticed a unique oil painting.

After viewing many similar oil paintings, I was drawn to a more abstract piece

that did not display as much texture as the others paintings did. This artwork is called

Landscape: Provence, circa and made in 1912 by Alfred Maurer.

The foreground includes a pink tree starting in the bottom middle of the painting

with three branches reaching to the top of the painting. The pale pink tree has colors of

blue, maroon, and purple to define its shape. There are also brief streaks of green and

blue that start at the bottom and try shooting for the sky almost like it is a fence and

tangled grass around it. The background is mountains in an array of yellows, greens, and

reds. Each mountain is approximately the same size but different colors. Lastly, one
large mountain is behind the tree and the tip of the mountain reaches the center of the

painting.

The artist whispers to the viewers how beauty is hidden behind simple everyday

things. Placing a big tree in the middle of the artwork shows us the simple everyday

things, but the beautiful mountains in the background is not noticeable until we look

further.

The three most important elements and principles which are displayed in the art

are pattern, balance, and shape. Pattern is displayed by the background of mountains.

The artwork portrays balance by the tree being in the middle and the large mountain also

being in the middle. The tree in the painting is an example of shape as well as the

mountains.

I appreciated how this oil painting was done differently, rather than others which

have a clear view and done on canvas. The strongest aspect of the painting is the tree

because it is the most visible to the viewer. The weakest aspect being the mountains

behind the tree which are unclear to the viewer. This piece of art will stay in my memory

because I can point out the unique hidden landscape within the painting. After walking

through the Reynolda house I went to view the gallery which was full of marvelous

pieces of art created by Martin Johnson Heade. In Heades gallery I was attracted to a

piece of art which had a bright purple orchid. This particular piece was called Orchid

with Two Hummingbirds created in 1871 with oil on prepared canvas.

Heade emphasized the orchid in his painting by contrasting the bright color of the

flower with the gloomy dark background. There are two hummingbirds resting on the
branch (one placed higher than the other) gazing into each others eyes in the foreground.

The background is a gloomy dark forest, yet the sky is filled with dark clouds with a

break of sunlight piercing through the clouds. The break in the sky shows an illusion of

light shining on the foreground. Furthermore, the painting is bordered with brown vines

tangling around branches. I believe this piece of art tells us a message of romance which

can be found in either the beauty of places or the darkest of them.

Heades artwork the Orchid with Two Hummingbirds uses mostly contrast,

balance, and unity. He uses contrast by placing a bright purple colored orchid in a dark

forest background making the flower stand out. The artist uses balance by applying

bright and dark colors evenly throughout the painting, and delicately places the humming

birds on the left with the orchid on the right. The brighter colors such as the orchid and

breaks in the clouds brings unity to the painting because without it the art would just be

gloomy and dark.

I appreciate this painting because of the bright colors popping out at you. I

believe the orchid was the strongest aspect of the work and the hummingbirds were the

weakest because they did not contrast.

Each painting I analyzed was an oil painting giving me awe to explore more of

what it may have hidden in the art or in the message. Analyzing art at the Reynolda

House would helped me find more of an appreciation for the visual artworks.