Royal Academy or Arts (Manet Exhibition)

At 15th of March, I visited the Manet's Exhibition at the Royal Academy of arts in Piccadilly Circus. I was looking at an artist named Eduard Manet who specialized in scene painting during the 17th century. 

The exhibition was not the most ideal for the theme I picked which is light because the artist mainly focused on people. I ignored the meaning in his work and focused on his techniques which I found much more interesting and related to my theme.  

(Below) The tragic actor - 1865 (Rouviere as Hamlet)

"Manet invited Philbert Rouviere (1809-65) to celebrate the actors retirement". 

When I look at the painting from up close, it feels as if I was at a photo session. The light that is built up behind the figure, makes him stand out almost as if he was standing in front of you. The background is blank with nothing to focus on other than the person in front.

We were not allowed to take any photographs at the exhibition which limited me to taking information as well as talking about the work from the first person perspective. I also drew some quick sketches of his work.

The work below is named 'Fishing' 1862-93. I wrote some first person experience comments while looking at the painting. What I saw in the texture of the surface, I wanted to capture with text and said "The dark forest near the bright hills with a glazing sun behind create a strong contrast in the painting. When looking at it from up close, you can take your time while exploring the piece as you get absorbed by every tiny detail of te painting. The color pallet is very vast and with such a large variety of color, the light and the darker parts of the piece can create a very real feel in the place". Although it doesn't look realistic when you look at it, the actual feeling you get is the same as if you were in the painting. 

The game of Croquet (1873)

"The painting rewards a contemporary bourgeois leisure pursuit"

When looking at this painting, I feel absorbed into it by the wide color pallet. The artist used several shades of green to create a very thick background and using some lighter shades, he created places where light would go through. The deeper you looked at the painting, the less light was going through the tree tops which made your eyes wander into the depths of the forest.