2. Title: Bank of the Seine with Barge, Fog
Artist: François-Marius Granet
Year: 1849
This water color photo is from the Seine River which is located in Northern France; it is a
major water way along the Paris Basin. I thought this painting did a great job of showing the
true culture of France in the mid 1800’s with the old barge in the river and the heavy fog in the
sky. The use of colors by Granet and the simple shapes make this piece simple but real. I think
that the people staring out into the river and the barge being the biggest object in the painting
show the high level of importance of the river during this time period. I think the lack of detail
to making any one object stand out make the painting come together as a whole, from the
people walking and standing, the barge in the river and the foggy sky all work together to form
a realistic painting of Northern France in the 1800’s.
3. Title: Flowers, Shells, Butterflies, and Grasshopper
Artist: Balthasar van der AST
Year: 1657
This was an older painting that I thought was crucial to have for my gallery. This is a
very simple piece but still have many things going on from the different color flowers, the
butterflies, the shells and eve the green grasshopper at the bottom. When I think of what
nature is this becomes the most real painting because it has everything that embodies nature
(plant life, ocean artifacts, and even animal life that is around nature. The different colors of
each item help make each part stand out in their own natural beauty. I think the relative size of
the flowers and how they are their natural size and bigger than the other objects make them
the focal point of the painting.
4. Title: Fishing
Artist: Annibale Carrache
Year: 1500’s
What an amazing painting for an art gallery with multiple fishing scenes on a river in Italy. First
I think the vantage point is the viewer looking out through the river into the rural country and
various farms in the background. The different colors in the painting also define the various
spaces; the sparkle white in the river emphasizes the importance of the water and the bluish
grey color of the sky and background show the distance but importance of the background. I
think that having each scene of fishing on different levels of the painting help separate each
group of fisherman into their own little space, I think that this allows the viewer to be able to
draw their own conclusions on who the people are and what their lifestyles are.
5. Title: Horse Restrained by Groom
Artist: Guillaume I COUSTOU
Year: 1745
To complete a nature gallery I think it is important include one of nature’s most
beautiful creatures during its encounter with man. This sculpture is supposed to show a
struggle between two of nature’s most powerful forces, the horse and a man. Since horses
were the main way of transportation and such a huge influence in the lives of people during this
time period I think this shows the true realism of the culture. The pure size of the horse and
how it is taller is showing that the horse may have the true power over man. The sculpture
does a great job showing the pure struggle in nature.
6. Conclusion
I think my gallery does a great job of showing the true beauty of nature during a specific
time period that we do not really understand today. I chose not to use any pieces of art from
recent times in order to show how nature was once this beautiful place before current times
took over. In particular I chose pieces of art that including the beautiful rivers, animal life, plant
life and how humans interact in nature. Three out of four of my pictures include humans and
how they interacted in nature during these times periods. If I was to map out a real gallery I
would start with the plant picture to get people thinking about nature and how to visualize
many aspects of it (animals, plants, ocean artifacts). Then I would start including the pieces of
art from different time periods to see how the different cultures relied on nature as a major
part of their lives.
