Pictorial Space throughout Art History: Cézanne and ... - ARAS
Pictorial Space throughout Art History: Cézanne and ... - ARAS
Pictorial Space throughout Art History: Cézanne and ... - ARAS
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<strong>ARAS</strong> Connections Issue 2, 2012<br />
Plate 12-2 Henri Matisse. French.<br />
The Blue Window. 1911. Copyright<br />
Museum of Modern <strong>Art</strong>, New York.<br />
In <strong>Cézanne</strong>'s painting the white<br />
tablecloth pulls right, down, <strong>and</strong> forward<br />
against the drapery which pulls in the<br />
opposite direction. There is a circular<br />
movement over the blue tablecloth,<br />
around the jug, over the brown<br />
background <strong>and</strong> back over the drapery<br />
<strong>and</strong> then over the white tablecloth.<br />
The smaller objects on the table<br />
push <strong>and</strong> pull against each other: for<br />
example, there are lines of tension<br />
between the yellow fruits.<br />
In the Matisse the wall pulls left,<br />
down, <strong>and</strong> forward against the tree which pulls right, up, <strong>and</strong> back. There are<br />
smaller tensions among, for example, all the yellow objects in the foreground <strong>and</strong><br />
background. There is a circular movement over the tabletop, past the tree, in<br />
front of the cloud, <strong>and</strong> back over the side wall <strong>and</strong> the green lamp.<br />
Each painting forms a universe ordered by the overall diagonals <strong>and</strong> the<br />
tensions between the main planes. Smaller objects within these planes push <strong>and</strong><br />
pull against each other with more subtle forces.<br />
The images in this paper are strictly for educational use <strong>and</strong> are protected by United States copyright laws. 55<br />
Unauthorized use will result in criminal <strong>and</strong> civil penalties.
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