Special Edition Blog

Art Institute

3 Artworks that inspire me & their Craft, Concept, & Composition

CRAFT: Adriaen van der Spelt & Frans van Micris collaborated on Trompe-l'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain. The artwork is done in oil paint on panel. Adriaen van der Spelt made the original painting and then Frans van Micris added the shimmering curtain.

CONCEPT: Dutch collectors sometimes use curtains to protect particularly exquisite paintings. The creators of this image alluded to this. The title Trompe-l'oeil means "deceive the eye" which is what the painters were trying to acheive with the curtain. It almost looks like you could grab it and pull it back to reveal more of the painting.

COMPOSITION: The flowers and garland appear to be obviously a painting but the curtain looks incredibly realistic and draws the eye to it. It obscures a third of the background painting making the viewer imaging what the remainder of the painting may look like. The background is darker and more subtle colors which makes the shimmery curtain pop out.

CRAFT: Jacques-Antoine Volaire, The Eruption of Vesuvius, 1771. The painting is one of many that the artist did of the eruption. It is done in oil on canvas. There is a contrast between warm and cool colors in the image. The entire image is relatively dark, but the lava illuminates the left portion of the painting, where the moonlight illuminates the sea on the right portion. The canvas is fairly evenly shared between both scenarios, though the volcano seems to be encroaching upon the serene night by the way the artist trailed the smoke and lava river.

CONCEPT: Vesuvius was a popular attraction for travelers on the Grand Tour of Italy. During the time of the painting, there was much reflection of the volcano's activity at that time. There was a major eruption the year this work was painted. This painting was also fueled by the Enlightenment interest in science and philosophy and literal notions, such as the terror created by nature.

COMPOSITION: The artist draws the eye to the spectacular eruption of Vesuvius and then leads it to the sea, where the lava is cooling. The right have of the image is very peaceful, where the left is using more destructive colors. Silhouettes of people who appear to have made it to safety seem to be spectating. The couple in the bottom right look to be climbing the hills with the ones in the center looking in shock and awe. The individual at the far left looks to be recording the events, perhaps mimicking the artist.

CRAFT: Conrad Felixmuller, The Death of the Poet Walter Rheiner, 1925. The painting is in oil on canvas. The entire painting is very dark and chaotic, yes seems to glow from within. There is a lot of action taking place in the background developing the city of Berlin. The painting is very stylized with many angles. The lighting plays and important role and rather than being subtly blended to create the glows, the artist used what seems like swift, solid lines in bright colors to emulate the glowing.

CONCEPT: Felixmuller painted the image after learning of his friend's death. The man is falling against the chaotic background of Berlin representing the struggle of the individual in the modern world. The artist inserted his face in place of Rheiner's to relate his own inner conflicts about the postwar (WWI) existence. The portrait represents the Weimar Republic's political and social urgency and suggests the romantic danger of the modern metropolis. The poet's plunge demonstrates the fall of Germany.

COMPOSITION: My eye is naturally drawn the the hand gripping the curtain and then the distraught face. I then follow down the body and notice that it seems to be falling away out of the window. The artist used inky lines and developed a nocturnal glow that contributes to the sense of ghostly-ness and chaos.