Here’s a dramatic landscape called "The Shores of Oblivion" by Eugene Bracht (1842-1921). The lighting makes the shot here, but what’s especially noteworthy is what he did with the chiaroscuro.
The obvious approach would have been to set the illuminated tops against a dark sky, and to place a lighter sky behind the shadowed bases, using counterchange.
Instead he did the opposite, placing light-against-light and dark-against-dark. One might think this would make the scene confusing or harder to read. But what it does is lend “bigness” to the picture, and draw attention to the shadow edge. And somehow it lends a sense of mysterious, foreboding gloom to the distant, dark reaches of space near the horizon.
9 comments:
He is a good painter and I found a bigger image of “The Shores of Oblivion" by Eugene Bracht at http://decourtenay.blogspot.com/2010/06/maler-eugen-bracht.html with some of his works too.
Yes, the use of light in this painting is stunning. It is SO not obvious how to make this sort of thing work. I wonder how many less effective workings of chiaroscuro he did before he understood this. It is very humbling for someone whose color sense is as literal-minded as mine.
..."A bare anguish of black beaches made mournful with the breath of the Northwind
And a huddle of melancholy hills in the distance."
Great monumental painting - with that special lighting effect you described so well.
In the larger image of this painting that Florante Paghari-on found--
http://decourtenay.blogspot.com/2010/06/maler-eugen-bracht.html
--I believe you can see a great number of skulls half-submerged in the sand/snow of the foreground. They are the bright white with the dark eye sockets clearly visible.
The mood of the painting is certainly gloom. I think that the effect you have mentioned is exacerbated by the fact that he really plays on the contradiction of warm and cool as well as values. The last bit of warmth from the sun is seen to be disappearing, and the inevitable plunge into cold dark night is approaching. A feeling of, "Will I see the sun rise?" haunts this peace.
Yes, a nice example that rules should be bent or even broken (at least in the Arts).
True, light against dark would be the obvious thing, at least for a thumbnail-sized image or a cartoon. But not for a large work where you want to engross the viewer with details. Looking at this painting really shows that juxtaposing similar values actually draws the eye in more, admiring the details. I agree it is very effective for emphasizing the gloom of the darkness beyond and the subtle light on the dark cliff.
Really loving this unique blog! Thanks so much.
A stunning painting. Thanks for sharing.
Great post on great painting James. Thank you,
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