Bright, warm color saturates the canvas.
The color scheme is clearly analogous, with almost all hues mixing a measure of
warmed red to bind the canvas. High key values are also favored, with density
providing accents instead of areas of shadow; midtones provide shadow. This
method of figurative modelling is unique to Cassatt. Extremes in figurative size,
intuitive color purity and a sort of “curved convergence” underscore this sense
of pictorial depth. It is compromised somewhat by the composition-wide
texturing, a necessary measure due to the harmonizing effect it has.
The interplay between the “verticality” of the composition’s arrangement against the horizontally-rounded edges and directional forces establish the organic unity of this masterpiece. In my opinion, this dilutes the garishness of Cassatt’s choices in color. The recognizability of the subject’s face is bracketed by the sloping curves of the balcony. There is a great deal of contrasting and form-defining value to be found there, and in the surrounding area, which leads the eye to the figure’s hair and body.
Cassatt seems to be “recording light” in the manner of Monet; it is clear that individual, tiny areas of color that vary in all dimensions of color are “stacked” together, both blending and remaining independent on the canvas, to express reflected light more than individual details. The feminine quality of this work is layered. That the subject is a woman has an obvious impact on this impression. The soft, graceful curves and fleshy, warm color scheme support this impression as well.
One of the ways Cassatt holds interest is by installing confusion about what is being depicted. Is the observer looking into open space with a balcony in the far-background, or is the field of view insidiously compressed by a mirror? (Correction: The field of view is compressed by a mirror). While equivalencies are difficult to find in this work, most of the unbalanced proportions have a harmonizing effect which “rounds off” the potentially distracting effects of that lack of balance.
The interplay between the “verticality” of the composition’s arrangement against the horizontally-rounded edges and directional forces establish the organic unity of this masterpiece. In my opinion, this dilutes the garishness of Cassatt’s choices in color. The recognizability of the subject’s face is bracketed by the sloping curves of the balcony. There is a great deal of contrasting and form-defining value to be found there, and in the surrounding area, which leads the eye to the figure’s hair and body.
Cassatt seems to be “recording light” in the manner of Monet; it is clear that individual, tiny areas of color that vary in all dimensions of color are “stacked” together, both blending and remaining independent on the canvas, to express reflected light more than individual details. The feminine quality of this work is layered. That the subject is a woman has an obvious impact on this impression. The soft, graceful curves and fleshy, warm color scheme support this impression as well.
One of the ways Cassatt holds interest is by installing confusion about what is being depicted. Is the observer looking into open space with a balcony in the far-background, or is the field of view insidiously compressed by a mirror? (Correction: The field of view is compressed by a mirror). While equivalencies are difficult to find in this work, most of the unbalanced proportions have a harmonizing effect which “rounds off” the potentially distracting effects of that lack of balance.
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