Celebrating Shadows, Even On Groundhog Day
Today, February 2, 2010, is Groundhog Day!
And in case you havenโt heard, Punxsutawney Phil emerged at sunrise in Gobblerโs Knob, but unfortunately the little guy saw his shadow. That means weโre stuck with six more weeks of winter โ can you hear all of us at Park West Gallery (in frigid Michigan) groaning?
Just when the Park West Gallery bloggers were about to curse shadows and wish them out of existence forever, we got to thinking about how shadows can be an essential part of bringing artwork to life, in creating depth and dimension. The artworks of Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn, for example, are praised for the artistโs dramatic use of chiaroscuro (strong contrasts of light and shade).
Rembrandt was a master of manipulating light and shadow to capture the intricate details and nuances of his subjects. In Susan Stambergโs recent NPR broadcast, the dramatic allure of Rembrandtโs 400-year-old sketches is discussed:
โI donโt know about you, but I walk right past sketches when Iโm at a museum. I head for the color: the oils, the big things,โ Stamberg says. โBut in a large, dimly lit show at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles โ the lights are down to preserve the 400-year-old works on display โ itโs the sketches that are the main attraction. Thatโs because the sketches are by Rembrandt, or at least most of them are.โ
โA sketch,โ says curator Lee Hendrix, โis putting your thoughts on paper. It was an end in itself. For Rembrandt, drawing was a way to work through subjects. I mean, he was one of the greatest dramatic artists who ever worked,โ Hendrix continues. โI think of Rembrandt as a kind of Shakespeare.โ
Audio Player
So despite the bleak forecast, maybe there is a reason to celebrate shadows todayโฆ
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