Met Museum Trip Essay -

         

The painting on the left was done with oil paint in 1943 by Thomas Hart Benton, titled “July Hay.” The painting on the right was also done with the same medium in 1427 by Robert Champin, titled “Annunciation Triptych.” Both of these were done with the same medium so there are similarities, however there are also differences, such as the fact they are 516 years apart. Because the first painting is more recent, we can relate to it more because we have actually scene was is depicted with our own eyes. Older paintings like the second, are mainly focused on religion which is not actually witnessed by us, but we have a pretty broad idea of what they should look like.

When it comes down to similarities, we can automatically see these were both done as oil paintings. Both have amazing details and shadings of color. We are able to see depth in both paintings and even see folds and wrinkles in the clothing as they would be if these were photographs. These are both representational paintings. There are obvious divides of foreground, middleground, and background; the sky seems to be in the background of both pictures, leaving what is supposed to be focused on close to the viewer.

Contrasting the two paintings, they obviously are done with two completely different contexts. The first is realistic, representing the rural areas and harvesters of America in the 20th century. The details were put into mainly the nature within the painting rather than the people. I chose this painting because I loved the details put into the forms of nature. The tree in the foreground, along with the leaves and flowers are so beautiful and mesmerizing to me. I know this painting isn’t all the way realistic but I believe the painter chose to paint this environment purposely to show the beauty within it dramatically.

The second representational painting is more idealized. This painting is mainly focusing on Virgin Mary and Joseph. Nobody really knows how these people look, but they are still painted very well. Different from the first, this painting has its detailed focuses set on every person or little thing in the environment around them such as the buildings and the items on the wall. The context of this painting is representing the day Mary was told she would conceive a baby, Jesus. The painter had a wonderful imagination as you can tell because unlike the first painting, the painter was not actually a witness to this scenery. I chose this painting because I liked the division of the scenery. Not only can you pay attention to this by foreground, middleground, and background; you can look at this painting from right to left. It is as if you are there watching the order of operations to deliver the message commence. The division also allows you to see more than one place at once, that’s incredibly creative to me.