Jan van der Heyden, Dutch, b.1637-d.1712, "An Architectural Fantasy", c. 1670, oil on panel, 49.7 x 70.7 cm, National Gallery of Art, D.C.
Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch, b.1585-d.1634, "A Scene on the Ice", c. 1625, oil on panel, 39.2 x 77 cm, National Gallery of Art, D.C.The seventeenth century was a golden era for Dutch painting. Dutch painting was influenced by the Baroque and Italian Renaissance periods (Wikipedia). “An Architectural Fantasy”, and oil on panel, was created by Jan van Der Hayden (b.1637-d.1712) in the year 1670; “A Scene on the Ice”, also an oil on panel, was created by Hendrick Avercamp (b.1585-d.1634) in the year 1625 (Smithsonian). Both paintings are from the Dutch golden era. They are from a similar culture and time period. They’re both from the Baroque movement. Movement in art can be described as a tendency or style with a specific common philosophy during a certain period of time. Baroque Art started in Europe around 1600, as a reaction against the intricate style which was dominant in the Late Renaissance. These paintings were selected by me from the National Gallery of Art. Each painting is representational in style and is from a similar culture and time period.
Themes are was another way of classifying an artwork. They can be helpful in establishing a subject. Political and social order is the theme of art that is depicted in both art works I selected; one can see this since there is a noticeable social difference between the characters and surroundings in the paintings. Jan Van Der Hayden expresses this theme in his painting "An Architectural Fantasy"; the characters depict the different status in society’s social order. The men are at a higher social status than the woman that is begging them for money, since they are wealthier than her. Social status is defined by wealth and power in society; those who have more are higher than those who have less. The men are leaving a palace; the palace itself is a major symbol of power. One can see the difference the in attire of the men and that of the woman; she is not in clean clothes unlike them. The outside area of the gates of the palace are not as clean as inside so this suggests that those outside the walls are of a lower social status than those who are inside of them.
Just as Hayden presents different classes of society, Avercamp's, "A Scene on Ice", does the same. This painting depicts the harmony of wealthy people enjoying ice skating, while in the lower left corner a poor fisherman surveys them. There are women in beautiful dresses riding a sleigh, children playing a sport that is a mix between hockey and golf called "Kolf". The attire of the characters is the main way of identifying a social status. Those who are dresses better have more money and power than those who do not have as nice clothes. The clarity of both paintings is due to the artist’s knowledge of the elements and principles of design.
The principles of design in both paintings are easy to identify. Avercamp uses colors in this painting to create unity, which is a sense of oneness of things that create a whole. The colors are all similar tones; these create the oneness of the painting. The tones are warm and analogous, for example the reds, oranges, and yellows. They are analogous since they are next to each other in the color wheel (Getlein, 97). The balance shown is asymmetrical because most of the weight is in the lower portion (Getlein, 129). Rhythm plays a major role since the presence of people creates it by repeating themselves constantly throughout the painting. On the other hand in Heyden’s painting there's is no rhythm at all. Heyden’s painting has asymmetrical balance since most of its weight is on the right. We know this is true because there are large scale images on that side of painting. The emphasis is what you see the most when you observe a painting; in this case it is the palace that stands out the most. There are other elements that allow you to see this palace, this is called subordination. The statue on the left of the palace points toward it making our eyes focus on it. The colors also create variety; the different tones are complimentary like orange and blue, from the sky and buildings.
“An Architectural Fantasy” depicts various types of lines that play with ones imagination to create movement and direction. This is shown in the slanted path at the entrance; it invites us to enter this area, since most diagonal lines are an indication of action. The gate which is conformed mainly by horizontal lines does not allow those who are outside to enter this area. Horizontal lines are lines that seem to block off entrance and are uninviting to viewer’s eyes. We know these are complementary because they are opposite from each other on the color wheel. The brick pattern formed in the entrance wall is created with amazing detail; you can almost imagine the roughness of the surface. The linear perspective of this painting is shown in the both building shapes; they create a sense of reality. Hayden also uses a visual element called atmospheric perspective; one can conclude this by looking in the far distance of the painting and noticing that as the farther the object is, the harder it is to distinguish it.
In “A Scene on the Ice” the most distinguishing design element first is atmospheric perspective, the people are harder to distinguish as they get father away. One can see the images in the distance although the have faded showing depth. Like the painting shown before this one, it also has many lines present. The implied line in this painting is shown in the figures of people swerving from left to right, starting with the fishermen in the bottom left corner, towards the far end. Motion is obvious since the people are gliding thru the ice. The colors present are warm, such as reds, browns, and yellows. Avercamp has used analogous harmonies; this is true since the colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
Colors can set the mood of a painting also. The mood that Heyden’s painting suggests is a calm and serene atmosphere, but if we take a closer look at the entrance we can see well dressed men leaving out to the street. A woman with her infant is begging the men, in my opinion this shows the poverty of those outside these nice walls. This causes a dramatic sensation. While Heyden’s painting is calm, Avercamp’s is joyful, since it is filled with people having fun skating over a frozen lake. Although there is a discrepancy of social status, as mentioned before the social classes in this painting are well distinguished by clothing. This changes the mood in my opinion to also cause a dramatic sensation. The colors that he uses are warm as oppose to Heyden’s, this makes the painting seem as a happy scene. These color techniques are used considering the mood that the art will express.
Apart from color techniques there are also brush stroke techniques that help set a certain look to a painting. Both artists use hidden brush stroke with oil on panel, this is a useful technique that creates contrast and clarity.
When it comes to art styles, they both use a "representational" style, which means the work depicts something easily recognized by most people. When we see Avercamp’s painting we know that there are people doing activities such as walking, sitting, even begging. Since we can recognize these activities it makes the art “Representational”. In Heyden’s painting there are people skating, playing sports, and working; as mentioned before this also creates a style called “Representational”.
Both artists used similar styles and were inspired by the same movement. The artists both painted in the 17th century, and most if not all of the Dutch artist utilized these techniques, setting a distinguished art style.
“An Architectural Fantasy” and “A scene on ice” are both illustrations of Political and Social order during the Dutch golden era. They were both inspired by the Baroque movement in the seventeenth century. Avercamp and Heyden use many principles and design elements, but the most noticeable is the element of atmospheric perspective that both artist incorporated in these paintings. They depict things that can be recognized by viewers, for this reason there style is called representational. I chose these Dutch oil on panel paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., reason be I have Dutch ancestors, and I am not familiar at all with this culture. Getting to learn about this culture in an artistic sense had an amazing impact on me, because now I have learned to appreciate it much more.
Works Cited
• Getlein, Mark. “Living with Art,” New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 2-347
• Wikipedia, Art Periods
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_periods
April 24, 2007
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
URL:http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg50/gg50-main1.html
April 28, 2007
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