This composition is about the death of a contemporary hero who died in the battle if Quebec during the seven years of war between England and France. The setting is in North America and it actually depicts a historical scene. West tried to make the composition more real by painting it with the outfit of the era. At first the king of England didn't buy it because it was painted in contemporary clothing and Roman outfits, but then it became a hit and the king told West another one for him, so there is actually two paintings of Wolf.
The picture has some Baroque characteristics: the spot lights on some of the figures, it's a diagonal composition, and the dark background cloud which suggests Wolf's death. The pose of Wolf is very theatrical, and it's very likely that West is making references of Christian scenes.
Romanticism is a state of mind and it can be free of style. Some of the pictures of Romanticism like Stubbs' "Attacking a Horse" or Fuseli's "The Nightmare" were intended as an elaborated metaphor of the sublime. The viewer was supposed to experience a feeling of dread, fear, and guilty pleasure; and humans like that.
>>source: my class notes from Arth 245 (19th century European art) I definitely recommend this class if you need to take any other ARTH :)
No comments:
Post a Comment