Megan Brown Museum Visit

I went to Calvin College Art Gallery and looked at their collection for my museum visit. They had several landscapes by the same artist, Mathias Alten. I chose one of those, a painting titled April, for my assignment. This painting is mainly focused at the sky and the big, fluffy clouds. You can see trees and hills in the bottom third of the painting, but the top two thirds are the blue sky and the clouds. The clouds are concentrated in the middle third, but they go throughout most of the painting. The colors of the painting are divided in the same way. The clouds and sky have different shades of white, gray, and blue; and the ground section has browns and greens.

I enjoyed this piece because it reminds me of cloud gazing and that’s something peaceful and relaxing, but also interesting because everyone sees the clouds differently. The artist used depth of field and perspective to put the emphasis on the sky and clouds. He also used texture to separate the ground and sky, the brushstrokes in the sky are smooth and curved, while the ground has shorter, choppier strokes. My interpretation of this piece is that the artist wanted to emphasis the drama and majesty of the world by shifting the focus and perspective to the sky, making it the largest part and making the ground, where we spend our time, such a small and less significant part.

My photo is slightly less dramatic because the perspective is more balanced, leaving the trees normal sized instead of tiny, and the clouds aren't as dramatic, but it still uses the rule of thirds and to make the sky look larger and more majestic.