Comparison between Landscape and The Seine at Chatou

1874 saw the completion of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's work The Seine at Chatou. Pierre, a French artist who was instrumental in the creation of the impressionist movement, created such a remarkable work of art using oil on canvas. The oil on panel painting Landscape by John Henry Twachtman, on the other hand, was completed later, in the year 1887. John was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes. He was also a part of the "Ten," a group of allies who were fed up with the establishment of the art world. This article will compare the two paintings and discuss the choices the artist took when creating his artwork. This includes the paintings’ descriptions, its comparison and lastly its contrast.

The Seine at Chatou, Pierre uses different shades of blue, brown, green, white and black to display to bring out the artist’s impression. Though few colors have been used, Pierre has been able to synchronize the painting making it easier for interpretation. Additionally, the use of these colors has been used to represent certain features. For instance, blue representing the water body and the sky, white representing the clouds, green representing the forest and grassland surrounding the body mass and lastly brown and black representing the man-made features such as the small boat, the house, and the bridge.

Pierre shows the representation of the Chatou at the end of the Seine river, marks the focal point of this painting. It appears on the left side of the painting. It shows the flow of the river. Another secondary point is the Seine River which is surrounded by green vegetation. At a distance, we see an organic background by the use of a darker shade of green. Illustrating the vegetation is continuous even after the bridge. It also shows that there is no existence of any other feature apart from the endless forest and if not endless it continues for quite a distance before coming across any other feature.

The second painting, Landscape, John interprets his impression of an old house that has been taken over by the green vegetation. It might either be an abandoned house or a very old house. John also uses few colors, for example, green, brown, black and grey. The dark green represents a very fertile area and it occupying seventy percent of the whole painting leads to my conclusion that it is the core point of the painting. It also provides a clearer picture of the man-made feature, the house, showing if it is a modern house, an old house or an abandoned house.

Other colors such as black, represent an object that had been there and even dark shadows. Next to the house, for instance, there is an aftermath of a neglected garden and the shadows of the dense trees.

The two artists, however, have some similar surreal features that have been used in their paintings, considering that both the artists are impression artists. The use of man-made features such as houses, boats, and bridges, in both, is proof of human inhabitation. John and Pierre also use natural features like a river and a forest. The two features being combined in both paintings show the co-existence humans and vegetation. Though in John’s painting the use of nature is more amplified.

Both artists have used oil in their paintings and the use of few colors in their paintings. As seen in the paintings few colors have been used to display. This leads to the other similarity, the paintings are not as detailed. For instance, white represents the clouds but we cannot see how the clouds are shaped specifically.

The two artists have also painted an outdoor experience. They both have done landscape portraits full of green vegetation and the use of uneven surfaces and textures to differentiate the features in their features.

However, the two show a contrast in the interpretation of the artists’ weather. John’s cloud shade is grey an indication of little lighting while Pierre’s clouds are white with a light blue background representing the sky, showing a warm environment. John’s painting on the same can also be used to boost interpretation of the old abandoned house. Additionally, Pierre majorly uses a reflective feature on the water body. As seen the clouds and the sky are being reflected on the surface of the river as well as the boat and surrounding vegetation. On the other hand, John uses shadows instead. For example, the dense trees shadows and the houses’ shadow.

Though both John and Pierre have used oil on their paintings, John has used oil on the panel while Pierre has used oil on canvas two different painting materials. In Pierre’s painting, a modern picture is displayed as compared to John, where the house seems old and abandoned. Pierre displays a lake house next to a modern bridge acting as evidence of urbanization. Another varying factor is the color intensity in the paintings. John uses a deep green while Pierre uses a lighter green and blue to show the reflection of water. Another incident is the use of clouds as mentioned earlier. John uses a dark shade to illustrate darkness while Pierre uses a light color to illustrate the presence of light.

Lastly, the use of different natural features, for instance, the river in Pierre’s painting and also man-made features like a boat and bridge by the same artist that lack in John’s painting.

In conclusion, the visual description of these two paintings is proof that each painting regardless of the artist did well. In my opinion, Landscape by John Henry Twachtman was my favorite, due to its easy interpretation and few objects thus making the concentration of color and texture consistent throughout. This does not make Pierre’s painting any less, as he is able to distinguish all the details with different shades thus making it more attractive. This diversity is what makes good artists as each person ventures into their own styles of an impression.







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