Maria Van Oosterwyck Analysis

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Maria Van Oosterwyck’s oil painting has many layers that display the creativity and imagination of the painting. The oil painting has many objects of interest that makes the work of art so interesting to analyze. The painting draws you in because of the colors and shapes of large and small proportions. The Saturation and dramatic color concepts along with overlapping represent the unique style of art displayed. When Analyzing the work of art the distinct areas of focus in understanding the oil painting is: lighting, color, spacing, and scale. The lighting of a painting or work of art ultimately can control were to look or focus on. Especially, in a painting with numerous objects of different colors, shapes, and sizes its vital that the …show more content…

Maria Van Oosterwyck’s oil painting has a variety of colors which captures viewers attention because of the way they mesh with one another. Although the painting has many colors, the dominant colors are black, white, and red. The entire painting is bordered by a thick black pigment which allows for other complementary colors to stand out. The white and red flowers because of the drastic saturation to the other objects which makes them an area of focus. Additionally, within the group of flowers there is one singular blue flower which blends in with the darker green and black secondary colors of the plant. Along with this there is a pattern of light brown/tan colors throughout the painting which work with one another in unity. The stronger red and white colors despite standing out more, complement the other colors because of the saturation and contrast too the dark background. The colors are derived from some type of light that is shining on the table in which all the objects are on. This light allows the colors to be vibrant and shows the little details delivered in the painting. Another small area of color choice is seen with the fly,butterflies, and rat in the paining. The rat which is predominately black hides in between the glass bowl and instrument. Without having a tint of white and gray on his body the rat would go unrecognizable because of its similar color to the …show more content…

The largest element in the painting is the plant of flowers which stands tall because of the hanging vines and buds. Adjacent to the plant is the globe which is also of a larger proportion of the painting because of its circular shape that is held upright by a wooden boarder. As the object move down the painting they can progressively smaller. Underneath the globe and flowers are the skull and the book, which are then followed by objects like the fly and rat. This shows the order and sequence within the painting that allows the viewer to follow. The objects within the painting take up the majority of the space with the corners and bottom of the painting being black and faded coloring. Behind the objects is a faded arc which is hard to recognize but helps in identifying the scale and size of where the oil paining. The viewers point of view is up close due to the size of the different elements, in addition to the items being leveled because of the table. The eye level and scale to which this was drawn from was most likely from someone who was siting down because the objects on display would normally below eye level when standing that close. Maria Van Oosterwyck’s painting of the “Vanitas Still Life” is layered with different shapes, colors, and sizes which makes it difficult and intriguing to analyze. Through the different lighting, color, spacing,

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