Nature/Science Theme

1. Description:

2. Analysis:

3. Interpretation:

4. Judgement:

Artist: Martin Johnson Heade

Title: Rio de Janerio Bay

Date: 1864

Medium: oil canvassing canvas painting 

Currently: The National Gallery of Art

Source: http://www.nga.gov

In this painting there is a sailboat in the middle of the Bay. There are some sailboats farther off into the distance. There are waves crashing into rocks on the shore. Heade used mostly warm colors, but some cool colors. In the skyline there are fluffy white clouds.

This painting is very balanced, the biggest sailboat is in the center of the paintings, and the others are scattered pretty evenly. Heade used warm colors of yellow, orange  and pink, and cool colors of blue and brown. In the positive space there are rocks and waves crashing into them. And in the negative space there are some tiny sailboats and white fluffy clouds. Heade used organic forms of rocks and mountains in the painting.

The waves crashing against the rocks created movement in the painting. The colors that Heade used created a calm and happy mood. He used vertical brush strokes along the top of the canvas to create luminosity. Some brush strokes are very visible, like the hills, but some are blended in completely like the surface of the water. The negative space of the sky was created by warm colors with a gray undertone.

I feel drawn into the work because of the water and the colors. The artist has created a visually interesting piece for me. The artist has also been successful in communicating the context.