Baroque
Baroque
"An Old Jew Seated," by Rembrandt van Rijn
The Baroque style first appeared in Europe in the late 1500s. It remained the dominant style until the more relaxed and intimate Rococo period developed in the 1700s. The word baroque comes from the Portuguese word meaning "irregularly shaped pearl." It was first used in the 17th century to describe something that did not meet the classical standards of the Renaissance. Baroque artists created art that was ornately decorated, dynamic and was filled with emotion. All available space on a canvas was filled with action, detail and movement.
"Philip IV at Fraga," by Diego Velazquez
The Baroque period was also a time of political and religious tension. Catholic authorities, alarmed by the Reformation, wanted a style of art to draw people back to the Catholic Church. They felt that art of the period should have only one aim: to glorify the Catholic religion and make Catholic beliefs more popular. Paintings and other art created during this time were full of high drama and emotional appeal, portraying vivid images of the Bible, saints, miracles and the crucifixion.
This flamboyant style was fueled in another way as well. Many rulers and other important people paid for artworks to show off their own wealth and power. Baroque art, in general, was characterized by elaborate displays of grandeur. It reflected the contradictory forces and emotions of the time.
Some well-known Baroque artists were Caravaggio, Rubens, Velazquez and Rembrandt.
Mark Harden's Artchive Rubens, Peter Paul
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
Caravaggio
He was one of the first artists to use this technique, known as Chiaroscuro . Italian for light-dark, Chiaroscuro is a term in art for a contrast between light and dark. The term is usually applied to bold contrasts affecting a whole composition, but is also more technically used by artists and art historians for the use of effects representing contrasts of light, not necessarily strong, to achieve a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects such as the human body.
I have always been impressed by the way Andrzej Dragan lights and processes his photographs and I think he has achieved similar result in his work, and example of which is shown below. I only add this to the journal as I think the consideration of the balance between light and shade is something I want to improve on in my photography
W. Eugene Smith, Josef Koudelka, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand and Lothar Wolleh. Annie Leibovitz, Floria Sigismondi and Ralph Gibson may be considered some of the modern masters of chiaroscuro in documentary photography.
"An Old Jew Seated," by Rembrandt van Rijn
The Baroque style first appeared in Europe in the late 1500s. It remained the dominant style until the more relaxed and intimate Rococo period developed in the 1700s. The word baroque comes from the Portuguese word meaning "irregularly shaped pearl." It was first used in the 17th century to describe something that did not meet the classical standards of the Renaissance. Baroque artists created art that was ornately decorated, dynamic and was filled with emotion. All available space on a canvas was filled with action, detail and movement.
"Philip IV at Fraga," by Diego Velazquez
The Baroque period was also a time of political and religious tension. Catholic authorities, alarmed by the Reformation, wanted a style of art to draw people back to the Catholic Church. They felt that art of the period should have only one aim: to glorify the Catholic religion and make Catholic beliefs more popular. Paintings and other art created during this time were full of high drama and emotional appeal, portraying vivid images of the Bible, saints, miracles and the crucifixion.
This flamboyant style was fueled in another way as well. Many rulers and other important people paid for artworks to show off their own wealth and power. Baroque art, in general, was characterized by elaborate displays of grandeur. It reflected the contradictory forces and emotions of the time.
Some well-known Baroque artists were Caravaggio, Rubens, Velazquez and Rembrandt.
Mark Harden's Artchive Rubens, Peter Paul
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
Caravaggio
He was one of the first artists to use this technique, known as Chiaroscuro . Italian for light-dark, Chiaroscuro is a term in art for a contrast between light and dark. The term is usually applied to bold contrasts affecting a whole composition, but is also more technically used by artists and art historians for the use of effects representing contrasts of light, not necessarily strong, to achieve a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects such as the human body.
I have always been impressed by the way Andrzej Dragan lights and processes his photographs and I think he has achieved similar result in his work, and example of which is shown below. I only add this to the journal as I think the consideration of the balance between light and shade is something I want to improve on in my photography
W. Eugene Smith, Josef Koudelka, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand and Lothar Wolleh. Annie Leibovitz, Floria Sigismondi and Ralph Gibson may be considered some of the modern masters of chiaroscuro in documentary photography.