Research Point 4

Claude Lorrain and JMW Turner - how these artists divide their landscapes into foreground, middleground and background.

Claude was a master of aerial perspective and was very curious about the effects of light at different times of the day - of which he made many studies. His lighting effects were soft and subtle and he had a great ability to depict vast areas of sky and great distance.

Usual characteristics of his paintings are enclosures of dark trees and/or rocks in the foreground bringing into focus brighter paler tones in the middleground, containing figures, animals and/or a building or some other structure - mostly classical looking. The sky is calm and magnificent, sometimes luminous (as in View of Tivoli at Sunset) above distant blue hills or mountains. The harmonious nature of his paintings is enhanced not only by the classical/biblical themes he employed, but also by his use of a very wide tonal range throughout. His paintings of sunrise and sunset reveal these effects very effectively. Many of his works are believed to have darkened over time, so some spatial clarity has disappeared.

The famous Claude Glass is small slightly convex mirror tinted a dark colour. It subdues and simplifies the colours in a scene, so giving them a mellow tone. They were once popular with travellers and poets.

View of Tivoli at Sunset



Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia 1682.



Joseph Mallord WilliamTurner (1775-1851)

Turner emulated Claude and other masters such as Poussin. At the time, this kind of landscape art - the Grand Style was held in high esteem. All three artists made wonderful observations of aerial perspective in their paintings.

Claude’s landscapes had a look of calmness while Turner’s were much bolder.

Unlike them, he portrayed more dramatic scenes – ships in a storm or shipwrecks and aspects of nature, such as storms and lightning, more ‘real’ scenes. A huge glowing sun was often a feature in Claude’s paintings, which Turner too used repeatedly. He was fascinated by the sea and air and the motion of the elements. Light was a major factor and it certainly seems so in two such studies – ‘Sunlight' and 'Sea: Stormy Sky'. His finished watercolours and later his oil paintings, although still full of atmosphere, are more detailed and describe a more defined foreground, middleground and background. Much of his later work was criticized as abstracts of aerial perspective causing his reputation to suffer - they were studies of the elements rather than representations of objects of nature. Interestingly, Turner’s work has enjoyed a revival in popularity in more recent times, following an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1966, coinciding with the rise of Abstract Expressionism.



Sea: Stormy Sky - watercolour



Sunlight - watercolour

    


















Norham Castle, Northumberland: Sunrise – is a painting in which the paint (oils) appears to have been applied thinly, giving a delicate appearance.  Bathed in a warm golden glow and an atmospheric haze, there is an impression of vast space and  minimal detail. In the foreground there are soft warm yet clear contrasts. The tones are warm yellows and reds and there is a grazing animal in warm red. Red and warm yellow tones and relatively distinct brushmarks bring the area forward. Moving back, the middleground contains some

 cooler blues. The horizon is very blurred and colours merge even more. Golden reflection on the water from the sun is quite noticeable and contrasts with the blue of the castle, while it is also very subtle. The background is bluer still and so indistinct as to give only a slight suggestion of distant hills, giving the illusion of great distance.

Norham Castle, Northumberland: Sunrise 1835-40, 78 x122cm, oil canvas