The "Big Ben" by Andre Derain, a painting capturing a London canal's splendour with Big Ben, the clock tower, in sight.
Hey! I'm The Phantom and I'm here to discuss in these three paragraphs, the meanings and ideas about Andre Derain's painting, Big Ben. It may not be as well known as The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, or The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, but perhaps in reading this assignment and learning about this painting, you can spread the knowledge.
This painting expresses imitationalism, yet to a certain degree. When you look at the buildings and Big Ben on the shoreline, you see enough detail to know what you're looking at. But Derain simplified the shoreline, the bridge, the boat, even the shadows on the water very much. So much, that if imitationalists looked at the painting, they would not think that the painting was a representation of art. They would think that it didn't have enough detail or didn't look real enough. In my opinion, both this painting, in its simplicity, and a detailed painting, are equal forms of art.
When you look at this painting, it can create a feeling of peacefulness or relaxation because the artist used calming colours such as purple and blue, even around the sun, except it's a fiery yellow and red. The reflection on the water is the main bright spot that your eyes are first drawn too. But the contrast of the green, black, and blue does not make the water seem so angry. If an emotionalist looked at this painting, they would probably say, "This painting makes me feel calm and happy. Therefore, this is a fine work of art." I believe that this painting does make me feel happy too, but I would not judge this artwork, or any artwork for that matter, by the strength of my emotions.
The overall layout of this painting is well done, so this painting expresses formalism in a clear way. The eyes are drawn to the reflection of the sun and the sun itself, which are both on the left side of the painting, but with the clock tower and the bridge, they contrast so your eyes are drawn from one thing to another. A formalist might look at this and say, "The sun is too much on the left; this painting's layout is not at all appealing!". In my personal opinion, this painting's layout seems to have been well thought out, and that the result was quite pleasing.
In conclusion, this painting was very well organized and had succeeded in winning my approval. Andre Derain's Big Ben has a good sense of imitationalism, emotionalism, and formalism. His unique style of dots and strokes has made the painting well layered and cheerful. If you have anything to say, please comment on what you think was the highlight of this painting.
