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  • Essay / A comparison of the works of Paul Cézanne, David Friedrich and Mark Rothko

    GROUP 1: Friedrich, Cézanne and RothkoSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Every work of art is unique. Each work of art has a specific composition, color palette and many other details that constitute the meaning and importance of the work. Artworks can come from different periods, be created with different materials, and have different subjects while still having similar characteristics. By comparing and contrasting the artworks of Casper David Friedrich, Paul Cézanne, and Mark Rothko, we explore evidence of how three very different paintings show similarities. The Monk by the Sea, completed in 1809 by David Friedrich, is a large painting which depicts a small figure of a monk in the foreground allowing himself to be swallowed up by the immensity of the sea in the background of the painting. Paul Cézanne's La Baie de L'Estaque, a painting of bright colors and a geometric landscape, was completed in 1886 and embodies the view of the bay from a small coastal town in the south of France. Additionally, almost a hundred years later, Mark Rothko's Maroon on Blue was made. It is a large painting consisting of two large dark squares separated in the middle by a contrasting bright red rectangle. All of these paintings differ greatly when first approached aesthetically. They have no similar colors, subjects, or painting techniques in common. However, the one thing that ties these three paintings together is the artist's use of depth to create and enhance the composition. Although the feeling of depth is created in different ways in each of the paintings, all three paintings have a feeling of depth. in the composition which attracts the viewer and makes him feel enveloped by the painting. In Monk by the Sea, Friedrich creates a sense of depth in the painting in several ways. First, the large scale of the painting gives the viewer the feeling that the painting surrounds them when viewed up close. Second, the fact that the sea and sky take up the majority of the composition and the figure is so small in comparison creates a sense of the figure being engulfed by its surroundings, forcing the viewer to identify. In La Baie de L'Estaque, Cézanne creates depth in the composition by using complementary colors and making the objects in the foreground more defined while the landscape and mountains in the background are more blurred. Cézanne also created depth by using flat brushstrokes to define an object, making objects and planes appear detached from those around them. Like Cézanne, Mark Rothko creates depth in his painting Maroon on Blue by boldly using contrasting colors. The two large squares at the top and bottom of the painting are dark compared to the bright red rectangle that breaks up the composition. By having two large dark shapes surrounding the contrasting bright red rectangle, it creates the perception of a tunnel that surrounds and draws in the viewer. Additionally, like Friedrich, Rothko used the large scale of his painting to create depth. Because the painting is so large in relation to the viewer, the viewer feels surrounded by the large black squares and sees the light at the end of the tunnel in the contrasting red. Furthermore, despite the initial aesthetic differences between the three paintings, once compared and analyzed the similarities appeared. Using large scale contrasting colors and different painting styles, the paintings of Friedrich, Cézanne and Rothko all created aimpression of depth which attracted the viewer. GROUP 2: Cézanne, Matisse, ManetPortraits and people in an environment have been a theme of paintings throughout the centuries. From Renaissance paintings depicting nobles surrounded by their wealth and possessions to early American paintings depicting farm life, portraits and figures of the environment are essential to understanding the culture and lifestyle of a era. Through the analysis and comparison of The Great Bathers by Paul Cézanne, La Joie de vivre by Henri Matisse and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe by Édouard Manet, the importance and similarities of portraits and characters in their environment are explored. Paul Cézanne's The Great Bathers, completed in 1898, is a large painting with splashes of color depicting a group of women bathing in a natural environment. In a similar style, Henri Matisse's large painting Joie de vivre depicts a group of figures dancing, relaxing and enjoying the outdoors on a beautiful day, beautifully painted with bright colors, thick lines and contrasting shapes. Finally, Édouard Manet's very large painting, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, represents the image of two men and two women picnicking in the grass. Although all three paintings have the same general content of figures in a natural environment, the styles and context of the 3 paintings differ greatly. Cézanne's The Great Bathers depicts several naked women and figures in a natural environment framed by limbless trees near a body of water. Cézanne wanted the figures to fit into the natural architecture of the landscape, and used similar colors and a very free style of painting so that the figures would naturally assimilate into the environment in which they find themselves. Similarly, in Matisse's painting The Joy of Living, several characters relax and play. , dancing and conversing in a large field dotted with trees. The figures are also painted in a loose style with bright colors contrasting with the landscape. The lines, shapes and planes are all undefined but create a consistent look of very natural figures in the environment in which they are found. In contrast, although Edouard Manet's painting still presents several figures in a natural environment, the style and emotion of the painting is different. While Matisse and Cézanne's paintings were both bright, filled with contrasting colors and a loose style, Manet's painting is very technically precise, features a darker color palette, and the figures are not as harmonious with their environment. Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe depicts two dressed men and two naked women having lunch in a dark field surrounded and surrounded by trees. The viewer is forced to make eye contact with the naked woman who is looking out of the painting in a way that is unsettling to the viewer. Because the women are naked and the men are clothed and presumably wealthy, this creates a different, somewhat questionable, dynamic between the characters. Overall, all of the paintings by Cézanne, Matisse, and Manet all featured different scenes of multiple figures in a natural environment. From the free and luminous style of Matisse, to the cohesion of the characters and their environment by Cézanne and the disturbing content of Manet's painting, the three paintings contribute significantly to the culture and era in which they were created . GROUP 3: from Velde, Kandinsky, GorkyArt transcends time. Some are works of art created decades before the movements they belong to even took place. Let them rebel..