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F, 5, 6, 4. Investigate and describe the similarities and differences between two works of visual art. Ruysdael's The Windmill and Inness's The Coming Storm Introduction: Having selected the two works by two prominent artists Ruysdael (The Windmill) and Inness (The coming storm) a decisive attempt to investigate and describe the similarities and differences between the two chefs-doers was made. The following essay is going to describe the two art works, draw parallels between them as well as unveil the motives and stylistic connection between these two masterpieces.
Brief biography together with the artists backgrounds will be mentioned in order to fully understand the philosophy behind The Windmill of Ruysdael and The Coming Storm of Inness. Body: Jacob Isaacsz van Ruysdael was a Baroque artist who even today is considered to be the top Dutch landscape and nature painter. He grew up in a family of the frame makers and since his childhood was exposed to nature, the outside and the art. He did not get any formal schooling and amazed the whole world with his wonderful art pieces that nevertheless possessed spelling errors in his own signature. Ruysdael was influenced throughout his life by many noted painters and artists from who he would learn the best he could oftentimes boldly plagiarizing the strokes or the semi-tone plays. It should be noted that Ruysdael was influenced especially by Cornelis Vroom, a famous Dutch landscapist, and his influence is seen in Ruysdaels works of 1640 s.
Speaking about his style that also marked his painting the Windmill it should be mentioned that Ruysdael's extreme obsession with trees and plants as expressed in his other works of Early Period (before 1659). Unlike other Dutch artists-landscapists who used trees to decorate the center image and show the background, Ruysdael believed that the trees also had their own personalities and expressed that in all his drawings. He uses thick impasto, adding depth and character to every tree seen in the drawing with the precision of a true druid follower (Denfeld, 34). Ruysdael's works of his later period were marked by light and bright colors as well as rather special palette. Here one should not forget to mention the waterfalls, and the windmills (one of which will be discussed later on in the essay) that show his interest in the forest and nature scenes. In all the works of that period including The Windmill, one can see a rather low horizon, while the major part of the drawing is dominated by clouded grey or dark sky.
Dutch countryside panorama is shown as dull and uninteresting, while the windmill represents some sort of stability and civilization surrounded by sad reality. Speaking about the other artist whose masterpiece the Coming Storm is under our analysis in this essay it should be noted that George Inness was an American painter. Inness was born in the outskirts of New York in the late 1825. It is not surprising that his arts represents the surroundings of the area where he lived as well as the areas of New Jersey, the place he traveled to with his parents. He learnt how to draw from the reproductions of the famous artists of Europe.
He had epilepsy that would knock him out in the process of drawing yet after such stroke he would still return to his canvas and continue to work on the painting (Denfeld, 36). Much of his adult life Inness spent in Italy at Florence as well as in Southern France where he truly enjoyed the surroundings and the nature all year round. He wrote in high detail all his works as if trying to show something that a regular viewer would not notice and completely forget about. Innes sought to capture the spirit of the European nature as it mysteriously changed within the natural forces, atmospheric hazes, mists, the elements and natural light. Here it should also be noted that Inness was exposed to the Swedish mysticism that made his strokes, more poetic, slow and even lyrical while his objects correlated with the space and nature. His works were somber, moody and somewhat bold with many critics claiming them to resemble the impressionist style with the hidden elements of Swedish mysticism.
Inness traveled around Germany and the Netherlands visiting the museums of Ruysdael. Inness because of such European experience was considered to be the most famous and gifted American painter that wanted to awaken those who are completely absorbed in the money-making process that did not notice what was truly going on in the society around them (Blum, 15). Speaking about the both paintings and their similarities and contrasts one must mention that despite the different time and space characteristics the two works are somewhat similar in nature. The Windmill by Jacob Ruysdael is a masterpiece representing the surrounding nature of the Dutch society.
It features the huge windmill and a small harbor with the tiny ship located near the shore. The sky is grey and sad, while the horizon is extremely low thus making the whole drawing appear somewhat frightening. Some viewers may even think that the drawing speaks about some upcoming storm, which is not the case due to the fact that the sail on the ship is still high, which would not be the case if the actual storm was coming. The sky is hidden behind the clouds and the masterful strokes of grey and semi-hues of black show the depressing landscape.
The windmill is the only stronghold of the picture. It is show in a way to understand that it benefits from strong wind or storm while the small ships like the one on the picture may suffer. At the same time the work of George Inness also shows an similar view yet in different colors. The sky is half filled with grey and dark clouds with the masterful color gamma showing the strong wind that brings in the storm (Mc Blum, 19). Just like in Ruydael's The Windmill, the forces of nature are shown as superior to human force. The character of a shepherd in The coming storm of Inness is compared to the ship in the Windmill of Ruysdael for the fact that each of them is helpless against the natural forces.
Just like in the Windmill the stronghold is the windmill, while in the coming storm the stronghold is shown in the house depicted in the background. It is a small farm, yet it is the shelter for the shepherd and his cattle. The smoke raising from the chimney shows us that inside the house it is warm and safe. The massive picture of the windmill in Ruydael's work also shows the viewer protection and safety, while its location (being turned directly against the harbor and the clouds) makes it appear as a warrior fighting against the forces of nature. Both artists showed the nature as it may appear to the viewer short of its full range with the strong wind, dark heavy clouds and some hostile tranquility.
Both artists utilized similar curly strokes and bold gamma or semi-tones as it especially is seen in the upper left corner of each picture to show the direction of the coming force. The similar palette was purposefully used for picturing the ground in both masterpieces to convey the message to the viewer that once the storm starts one would not see any difference between the clouded sky and the drenched turf. Each artist utilized some reference objects (the ship in Ruysdael's The Windmill, and the cattle and a man in Inness The coming storm) to add gravity to the pictures background that could be seen in comparison of helpless human beings, cattle and a ship under full sails to the might of the elements. At the same time both artists used the windmill and the house, two man-made strongholds, to oppose the devastation that is associated with the storm (or uncertainty and possibility of storm as it is in The Windmill of Ruysdael). Speaking about the dissimilarities one should point out the passivity of the housing in the Coming storm by Inness to the activity of the characters in The Windmill.
The cattle is scattered on the field with the shepherd being on his way home being unable to bring the animals along. The animals are passively left to experience the storm and it appears that they do not know about its coming. The Windmill on the other hand is resisting the winds of the nature that also certainly may look to the viewer like the upcoming storm. It is difficult to say whether or not the nature is always like that in the Netherlands as depicted by Ruysdael, yet to the common viewer it appears that the natural forces are restless. The ship also is not afraid of the condition and (yes it is another similarity) just like the cattle from The coming storm by Inness is left to experience whatever is about to happen in the bay. The strokes of the two paintings are also somewhat different with the respect to the horizon line, which is low (Ruysdael Windmill) and high (Inness the coming storm) thus making the whole background appear different in each of the drawings, while still preserving the proper color palette and similarity of the grave clouded sky.
It should not be left unmentioned that the two artists made their works somewhat philosophically different. Ruysdael in his The Windmill keeps the viewer in suspense by not telling them what he really meant by the sky that occupies the major portion of the picture and the prominent windmill, thus making them think of philosophy of force and anti-force. Inness on the other hand, showed the eminence of the storm, yet left the picture as if unfinished, making the viewers want to know what would happen to the house, the cattle, and the man the next second and whether or not color of the clouds and the sky would mingle with the color of the ground. Conclusion: In conclusion it should be said that The windmill and The coming storm are somewhat similar and at the same time are different from each other. The way the paint is put on the canvas, the strokes and the change in semitones certainly is similar in both masterpieces that are most likely to be influenced by somewhat common experiences the authors had in Europe as mentioned earlier in the text. The color is different and the settings are different, even the characters and the sky are different in each of these works.
At the same time the viewer is able to see the restless elements and the hidden behind the clouds sun that is supposed is mean struggle with natural forces as well as struggle as an ever-present condition for life. The windmill of Ruysdael is compared to the house in the Inness work with each of them representing something that can resist and withhold the natural advances while the ship, the cattle and the man each representing the gentleness and vulnerability before the storm or uncertainty that are shown in the two famous works. Bibliography: web (Ruysdael, The Windmill) web (Inness, The coming storm). Maxam, Clark The History of Worlds famous painters, McGraw Hill, 2002. Blum, George, The History of Art, Penguin Books, 2001. Denfeld, Angel, American painters, NY Random House, 2001.
Mc Blum, Steve, Art and modern society, Oxford University Press, 2001.
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