I and the Village is a painting done by the French artist Marc Chagall. The painting was composed in 1911 and is a colorful work of art done on canvas using oil paint to demonstrate its themes that incorporates multiple pictures that overlap each other in the painting ("Marc Chagall. I And The Village. 1911" 1). Maternity is a work of art that was composed by Marc Chagall in 1912 ("Marc Chagall. Maternity. (1912)" 1). Like I and the Village, the artwork shows different pictures in that overlap each other to illustrate the intended message. The painting was done on paper and was drawn using gouache. Both paintings caught my attention because their titles were self-explanatory and there was the presence of free movement in the artwork. Nevertheless, the presence of elements in design such as linear perspective, shapes as well as the value which helps depict the action in the art is present with disparities in the application for both paintings despite being composed by the same artist.
Application of Linear Perspective
From both paintings, it is evident that the application of line has been significant in bringing out the clarity of the images within the art. However, due to the difference in the media used in the composition of the artwork, the final appearance of the application of line considerably differs. The lines on I and the Village are distinctive and more apparent compared to those on Maternity. Ideally, this is because gouache which got used in Maternity dries up fast unlike oil paints which offer the artist more time to illustrate more precise lines.
Application of Shapes
Similar to the line as an element of art, shapes have been sufficiently used to illustrate parts of the body of the image. The placement of shapes in the two painting portrays disparity. Nonetheless, the painting I and the Village which was created on canvas using oil paint hence allowing more time for mixing colors and as such the images depicted have more defined shapes which have no division of positive or negative spaces caused by the shapes. On the other hand, the shapes used in the painting Maternity, are few compared to those in the other of Marc’s painting ideally because of the medium used. Besides, the shapes in Maternity show specific items of the images, and as a result, there is a clear division of the positive spaces as well as the negative spaces since the shapes applied have clear and positive importance.
Application of Value
Value as an element of art is vital because it offers the artist an opportunity to depict specific moods in the themes and also movements in the overall artwork. Value primarily bases on the application of color saturation in particular parts of the art like in I and the Village whereby Marc explicitly used this element. Various images in the artwork have incorporated value to link them with each other such as the green face of a boy, and the white goat has implemented this technique to define the movement of the artwork. Compared to Maternity, the artwork has used this element sparingly because gouache paint which made from pigment dries up faster with a darker contrast than the value implemented on the medium. Due to that, the media used on Maternity limits the seamless appearance of value in the painting.
Conclusion
Conclusively, both of these artworks by Marc Chagall have used similar elements of art but with varying intensities in the paintings. It is also notable that the materials used while developing artwork impacts the applications of aspects of design. As a result, it is evident why Marc explicitly used specific styles on various materials and in turn the I and the Village painting is more appealing to the eye due to consideration of the methods and the materials regarding the elements of design.
Works Cited
"Marc Chagall. I And The Village. 1911". The Museum Of Modern Art, 2018, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78984. Accessed 12 Dec 2018.
"Marc Chagall. Maternity. (1912)". The Museum Of Modern Art, 2018, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/35553. Accessed 12 Dec 2018.
Appendices
Maternity
I and the Village
