SO....you may use googleimage and type in "Romantic Painting" or "Romanticism and art" or do some other web research to find a painting that you can analyze.
- Compare the techniques of the artist and the painting to the literary techniques of The Scarlet Letter. Give specific similarities.
- Provide the image of the painting or a link to it in your post
- Comment on each other's paitings for extra fun! :)
The painting that I chose is called "La Tempete". The artist Piere Auguste uses light and dark imagery just as Hawthorne does in "The Scarlett Letter". Auguste illuminates a couple hiding under a cloth and running from something in the sky. They are surrounded by a black background. Thus, their love is the light that illuminates the darkness around them. The boy is looking at the girl and the girl is looking at the sky. The girl is wearing a white gown and is illuminated in the image. She is thus pure and innocent. She has whiter skin and appears to be of higher rank than the boy. The boy looks more like a native with dark skin and hair and he has his arm around the girl's waist as they run. It is a forbidden love and there is a clear separation between the pursuing force and the boy. The girl is in the center and is torn between which to choose. Although her face is turned upwards towards the zenith, she has a look of sly contempt on her lips. It is almost as if she is running with the boy out of spite for society or god or whatever is pursuing her. The couple leaves the darkness of society in their path as they run towards the light that symbolizes their love and freedom together. Just as Hawthorne uses light and dark to symbolize the difference between happiness (light) and sadness and gloominess of society (dark), so does Auguste.
ReplyDeleteLINK:http://www.ulike.net/La_Temp%C3%AAte_(Artwork)
The painting that I chose was "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix. Like Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter, Eugène Delacroix uses light and dark imagery in this painting. The light is focused on the personification of liberty because she is leading the soldiers to freedom, which is a right given by God. Darkness covers the rest of the painting, including the soldiers and the dead because they are simply not as holy as the personification of liberty.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the painting: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_La_libert%C3%A9_guidant_le_peuple.jpg
The painting that I chose was titled "Steamer in a Snowstorm," by Joseph Turner. This picture incorporates several elements which Hawthorne also uses. The obvious one is Turner's use of light and dark imagery, as the lone black steamboat is hurdling through the sea during a white wintery storm, and shows the irony of society. Just like his unpredictable brush strokes and movement throughout the painting, the personification of like and dark is turned around, as the violent storm is white (normally symbolic for youth or innocence) and the ship is black. The painting is also very ambiguous, similiar to how Hawthorne handles the characters. In the novel, many characters hide secrets from one another or have ambiguous histories. In the painting, the image is very blurry and is difficult to comprehend what is happening. Turner is also suggesting that nature is very disorderly, which connects to Hawthorne's theme of Nature vs. Society, as society attempts to control nature, but as Hawthorne reveals through Pearl, Hester, and Dimmsdale, society often can't control the unpredictability and passion of nature.
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~tmisa//102/images/turner_steamer.html
http://www.texaschapbookpress.com/magellanslog5/turner/slaveship1840161k.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis painting is "The Slave Ship," by Joseph Turner. Like the motif of The Scarlet Letter, Turner uses light and dark colors in this painting to enhance the meaning. The water which the ship is headed toward is a very dark blue-grey color, whereas the light colors (orange, yellow, and red) lie behind it in the sky. Given the name of the painting, this is probably related to the unfairness, cruelty, unmoralness, and wrongdoing that slavery caused. The darkness could also suggest uncertainty, particularly with what is to come. Hester and Dimmsdale are "in the dark" by not knowing what will happen when Dimmsdale finally reveals himself as Pearl's father.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.stockton.edu/~fergusoc/romantic/Maratb.gif
ReplyDeleteI chose the painting of "The death of Marat" by David. this painting reflects Marat in a light linen gown as the darkness of death creeps up and slowly consumes his whole room except for the small table he has been writing his will on. This reflects the dark and light imagery in the Scarlet Letter because it shows how the darkness of sin is slowly creeping up on people and consuming those who are viewed as people of the light.
The painting I chose was "The Oxbow" by Cole Thomas. This painting shows the Connecticut River with a valley landscape in the background. On the Right side there is a bright and clear sky scenery with a great deal of light and dark colors, but on the left side there is very dark shadow of darkness and a dead tree. This painting relates to the literary techniques used in "The Scarlet Letter" because in the painting there is a contrast between light and dark color, which holds a positive and negative mood as well. For example on the right side of the painting where the color use is very bright there is beautiful landscape and scenery that conveys happiness or life and on the left side there is a dark shadow with a dead tree that reflects depression or death. In "The Scarlet Letter" Pearl is described with adjectives relating to light, brightness, or bright colors because she is viewed as an innocent or positive figure. Chillingworth is described with dark or dull colors, because he is viewed as an evil antagonist. Overall colors in paintings and literature can describe the overall characteristics or meanings within the work.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_(The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836.jpg
The painting that I chose is called "The First of May" by Francisco Goya. This is an image of a group of men holding guns up towards another group of men. The men with the guns stand in the dark which is possibly associating them with an evil or dark side and the other men are standing in the light possibly associating them with innocence. This is similar to "The Scarlet Letter" because the painter is creating emotions for the audience. In this particular painting the painter creates a sense of pitty and sorrow because of the men who are in the light. These men are covering their faces, bleeding and it appears as if they are trying to hide. It seems as if they are the so called outsiders in the society because of the light which is shinning down on them. This also relates to "The Scarlet Letter" because of the contrast between the light and dark imagery. As I have said previously the dark light is shinning on the men with guns creating an emotion of fear, and the light is shinning on the men who create that emotion of innocence and sorrow.
ReplyDeleteLink:http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.students.sbc.edu/kitchin04/artandexpression/goya-may-third%255B1%255D.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.students.sbc.edu/kitchin04/artandexpression/modern%2520art.html&usg=__D-TDv8ZpTq_1G8XXdZ6feMP8Zlw=&h=642&w=800&sz=82&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=TEfthAuDPDiXeM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRomantic%2BPainting%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=OBOVTb7nNNCugQel_LG6CA
http://www.en.utexas.edu/Classes/Moore/romantic/romGardIndex.htm
ReplyDeleteThe Romantic Garden has many of the same characteristics to the way Hawthorne wrote The Crucible. First of all, the building featured in the painting appears to be slowly deteriorating shown by the fragments of rock in the foreground. This could relate to the way Dimmesdale slowly and tortuously suffers from the guilt he is feeling. Also, in the same way Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery, such as shadows around the governor's house, this painting depicts much lighter colors in the building as opposed to the much darker colors of the background. The building also leads to an area that seems to glow as if under divine light. These contrasts in light and dark colors are similar to those used in The Scarlet Letter and reflect the techniques used in romanticism.
http://www.canvaz.com/moran/moran-054.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis romantic painting has the similarity of having the contrast between light and dark which is also seen in the imagery in The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne describes characters as being either shadowed or highlighted by the light. Specifically Pearl is the main character highlighted by the light giving her direct association to goodness and God. This is also seen in the painting were the main figure is surrounded by light heading down the road to prosperity while the nature surrounding him is covered with shadow.
The painting I chose is called Fisherman at Sea. It depicts a crew of men upon a boat at sea. The sun or moon, whether it is night or day is unclear, leads them on their journey. The sun or moon leads them from the evil and darkness which is closing in around them. It as if the Light is not only guiding them, but protecting them with an aura from the enclosing darkness of what appears to be a storm from nature. This is similar to how Characters in the Scarlet Letter are portrayed. Chillingworth is the darkness which consumes all light. He becomes more like Satan through his evil deeds and his soul becomes contorted along with his appearance. The light which is depicted throughout The Scarlet Letter tends to be upon the good and positive things. It leads those corrupt and lost souls from darkness and grants them safety and guidance, away from such evils as Chillingworth.
ReplyDeletehttp://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DR6aMgjKY-YqceOLSVXHXA
SO, I just came on and realized my post never posted.... I'll put up another in a little while.
ReplyDeleteI remember the name of my painting, which was "Combat of giaour and hassan".
Similar to Alisons situation my computer was also having problems last night.
ReplyDeleteI chose the painting Shipwreck by Joeseph Vernet(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shipwrec-vernet.jpg), the painting emphasizes light vs dark and nature. You can see that humanity is overcome by nature similar to Hester's situation. She was risen in a strict Puritan society and her love for Dimmesdale turned her against it. Her natural instincts seduced her and her judgement had lost. In addition to that parallel the painting has a huge contract between light and dark just like Hawthornes writing. In the painting the city in the top left corner is surrounded in darkness similar to the townspeople. Whereas the sea's horizon is almost heavenly embodied in sunshine just like Pearl is described in The Scarlet Letter.
http://www.uh.edu/engines/romanticism/giaour-hassan.jpg
ReplyDeletePainting: Combat of Giaour and Hassan, 1826
In both The Scarlet Letter and this painting color and the amount of light are used to set the mood. In the painting the men who are fighting have more light than the rest of the painting and are a lot more detailed and colorful. This is the same way in The Scarlet Letter the more important characters for example Hester described in more depth and detail with color and light and darkness. In The Scarlet Letter Characters are used to demonstrate the authors message while the painter paints people to express his message to the viewer. In the painting the man in the bottom right corner is about to slice the horses leg without the rider knowing it, this is similar to how Chilling worth is torturing Dimmesdale by making him feel guilty about not telling anyone that he is pearls father without him knowing it.