Nature

Artist: Fredric Edwin Church

Title: El Rio de Luz

Date: 1877

Medium: oil on canvas

Provenance: National Gallery of Art

Source: www.nga.gov

Description: trees surrounding a river with bright light shining through

Line: vertical line Dow the painting where the light shines

Natural Shapes and Forms: trees, rocks, leaves, still water

Color: shadows cast by trees, bright light shining down, reflections of trees in water, dark clouds above

Texture: leaves and trees look rough, water looks still and smooth

Space: illusion of space through trees in the background, positive space in trees and leaves in foreground, negative space in background and light shining

Balance: asymmetrical and not balanced

Contrast: clouds and trees seem rough but sky and water seem smooth

Emphasis: emphasis focused on large tree in left foreground and bright light

Movement: shown through leaves and clouds

Proportion: height of trees and different plants help to set proportion

Rythm: Ruth, shown through leaves on trees and plants and clouds in the sky

Unity: the leaves and trees work together to show a sense of movement; the water and sky work together to portray stillness; trees and water work together to show the contrast between different elements of nature