Tag: chiaroscuro

Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Negative space and chiaroscuro

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This came up earlier in the module but I hadn’t seen it discussed with reference to paintings that didn’t strike me immediately as employing this technique or method of focusing the eye and drawing attention to areas of demarcation. This very readable discussion by Dan Scott refers to John Singer Sargent’s painting of Madam X; how he used very blended and light brushwork for her skin and much darker, broader strokes for her hair, dress and background. Everything is about the posed elegance of this socialite who, by all accounts, had as much of an opinion of herself as Sargent … Continue reading Negative space and chiaroscuro

Art and artists: building a vocabulary, Research & ReflectionLeave a comment

Part 1, Research Point 1, Chiaroscuro

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I came across the term chiaroscuro many years ago and subsequently forgot what it meant then confused it with sgraffito. A little analysis would have clarified that, given the latter’s close approximation to graffiti. Chiaroscuro is about light and the use of paint to create that illusion on canvas. Sister Wendy Beckett (Beckett, 2001) notes an early example of this (see above) and makes the link back from this Roman piece to Hellenistic art. I find this painting startling in its realism; representational without being frozen. It looks alive. The small glass vase in particular has a fragility to it, and a … Continue reading Part 1, Research Point 1, Chiaroscuro