Art

In Thomas Coles painting The Oxbow we see a lush landscape from the top of a mountain. The hills are covered in greenery and in the distance one can see a river. The sky is partly obscured with clouds. The subject of the painting is a view of f of the top of Mount Holyoke in Northampton, Massachusetts at the end of a summer thunderstorm. The painting measures 51  x76 inches. The primary materials are oil on canvas. The main colors are the colors of nature, rich brown, verdant green and sky blue. The painting was created in 1836 and clearly shows that it was part of the school of Romanticism that was common at the time.
    In style this appears to be a fairly traditional landscape painting however, as one looks closer one notice elements that make this painting significantly different from other landscape paintings of the time. First, other landscape paintings during this period often appear flat and dull. However Coles painting is not. He uses bright colors, curved shapes and light and shadow to create a painting that almost appears to leap off the canvas. Cole also focuses on the wild forests and fields rather than on the traditional pastoral landscapes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
    Cole plays with light and shadow using what appears to be the chiaroscuro technique in order to create a vision of the sky partly covered in clouds. The use of light and shadow also is used to emphasize the curves of the river as it winds its way through the valley below. Cole primarily uses a linear perspective in the painting, with the focal point of the painting being the hill or mountain in the distance. Light and shadow are used to draw ones eye to this point, and emphasize the ending of the thunderstorm.
    Cole also uses shape as a method of drawing the viewers eye to the central focal point of Mount Holyoke. His shapes are mainly curved and there are few angular lines in the painting. Even the sole tree that is outlined in the lower left corner of the painting has a curved shape as if it has been bowed by the winds and rains of the thunderstorm. The shapes also are used to emphasize the mountain in the distance with the island in the center of the river being used to draw ones eye toward the mountain.
    Color is also used in a fairly unique way in this painting. Cole uses lush greens, deep browns and sky blue to emphasize the wild nature of the setting. He also uses color to emphasize the perspective of the painting. Brighter colors are used in the forefront of the painting and as Cole draw ones eye towards the focal point of the mountain.  The colors are also used to emphasize the wildness of nature, and the ideas behind the painting. Cole focuses on color as a means of portraying wild nature in its untamed form.
    In comparison Vincent van Goghs painting Starry Night  is completely different. This painting is a nightscape depicting the nighttime sky over a small village. This painting is part of the Impressionist style of art. It measures 72x92 cm and is created with oil on a canvas background. The primary colors in the painting are yellow, white, dark blue, green and black. The focal point of this painting is the nighttime sky.
    Unlike Coles painting which focuses on light rather than shadow, Van Goghs painting is more dark. He emphasizes the darkness and uses darker grimmer colors than Cole which perhaps can be interpreted as reflective of his personality. Van Goghs use of color was somewhat out of the norm for a Impressionist Era artist as Impressionist artists typically used much brighter colors as well as pastels.
    The use of light and shadow in this painting are also very evident in this work. Van Gogh uses darkness more than light. Darkness emphasizes the village and the landscape and this draws ones attention to the nighttime sky where Van Gogh uses light to emphasize the brilliance of the stars in the nighttime sky. Van Gogh also uses light and shadow to emphasize certain things in the forefront of the painting such as the tree on the lower left hand side of the painting.
    Van Goghs use line and shape in this painting is marvelous. He uses the swirls of the paint, and the curved shapes of the tree in the foreground and the mountains in the background only serve to emphasize the starry sky. The line and shape are also used to emphasize the impact of humanity on nature as the village down below is the only aspect of the painting that is comprised entirely of more angular, hard edged shapes.
    Although this is significantly different in style from Coles The Oxbow many of the same artistic elements such as use of light and shadow, a unique artistic perspective in comparison to other artists of the same school and an emphasis on the wildness of nature are present in these paintings . Van Goghs style emphasizes his darker nature, and temperament whereas Cole focuses more on the wilderness itself.
    Van Goghs main focus on the night sky also enables him to play with textures as well. Unlike many paintings which appear flat, Van Gogh uses the swirls and texture of the paint to emphasize the focal point of his painting. This gives a clearer impression of the night sky and the stars and makes it clear what the central theme of Van Goghs painting is.
    It can be concluded, that the works of Cole and Van Gogh were stylistically unique for the time. Each had unique elements in terms of texture, color, and line that set the paintings out from the rest. Each paintings style also reflected the personality and aims of the artists.