Dutch realists and interior painters of different periods

For this research I was ask to choose some paintings the appealed to me

Cornelis Bisschop, Dutch (1630-1674): Woman Peeling an Apple, 1667

This is a beautiful interior scene: on the left a maid sits casually on a doorstep between three rooms, leaning against the door peeling an apple, with a shoe and some apple peel in front of her. The light comes from a room on the left and falls on her face and shoulder, and her skirts guide us to the room on the right, where we see a chair against the wall. The door behind her leads to a third room illuminated also from the left, where we see a chair and a table with a wineglass.

The artist has used a one-point perspective and the illusion of space and three-dimensionality are achieved by several techniques: the foreshortening of her legs under her blue and red skirt, the placement of her shoe and the apple peel in the foreground, and the size of the chair on the wall in the room behind her.

Reference

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-2110

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/technique/perspective/vermeer-and-perspective.html#.XJLFzS10dhE

Johannes Vermeer, Dutch (1632-1675): The Music Lesson, 1662-1664

I chose this painting because I found several comprehensive and very interesting studies that explained the techniques used by Vermeer to create his magnificent composition of a woman standing by a piano with her back to the viewer and a man standing by her side. He employs a one-point perspective with the vanishing point on the left sleeve of the woman, and remarkably, the researchers actually found the needle hole in the painting that Vermeer used as a tool to create his perspective.

We see the receding shapes going towards the sleeve: on the windows, the wall, the patterns on the floor and the table on the right.

Another technique Vermeer used was the soft light coming through the windows, taking our eyes through the room from left to right, and from the foreground down to the main subject: the woman. The placement of the objects in the painting enhances the perspective: the bass and the chair between the table and the couple separates them from the rest of the room, giving a more intimate atmosphere. And the white of the jar and sleeve and collar of the man unify the composition, taking our eye back to the two subjects.

Reference

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/milk/hd_milk.htm

Painting techniques: from Rembrand to Vermeer –Yale university art gallery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fMJkY41Scg

https://colourlex.com/project/vermeer-the-music-lesson/

Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch 1853-1890: The Night Café, 1888

This is a very striking and powerful painting, full of mood and feeling: an interior scene in a café in Paris which initially seems to be fairly empty, just a pool table with no-one playing on it. There is, however, a prominent figure beside the table in yellowish clothing and a lot of space around the table, and then you start noticing that there are some very tired people sitting at tables around the room. The clock above the doorway shows the time 12:15, the three big lamps hanging from the ceiling are lit, and the impression is clear that this is late at night.

The scene defies all the rules of classical Dutch realistic painting: the perspective is tilted and the pool table looks like it is going to slide out of the painting, the main figure is not in line with the perspective of the furniture around him, and the yellows, greens, and the red of the walls clash with each other.

There is also an over-emphasis on the light from the lamps by which Van Gogh creates a very moody and somehow disturbing environment - as if he intends to portray the sad and depressing life of people who probably don’t have anywhere to go and have to spend the night in the café.

Reference

Gill Polonsky, 2014, Chagall, Phaidon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkAnlz__hRc

Ken Howard, (British 1932): Nude in Oriel Studio

Howard’s interior scenes are always very interesting, there is almost always a figure in the background of his compositions, and this is a very serene scene with an unusual perspective: the lines in the corner of ceiling and the light that comes through the windows lead you to the figure.

The table and chairs in front of the model create an atmosphere of intimacy around the model sitting looking through the window. The painting reminds me of how Vermeer has placed a chair and bass in The Music Lesson to create the same effect. And the sense of space, three dimensionality and atmosphere are enhanced by Howard’s colour palette: mostly soft pastels, with blue tints in the far walls giving a sense of depth, and the shine on the floor reflecting the colours of the ceiling which unify the composition.

Photo source: http://www.thompsonsgallery.com/artist.php/Nude-in-Oriel-Studio-6652/?art=1