The two pictures that I chose are Woman With A Book by Fernand Léger , 1923 (top) and Lady In A Park by August Macke, 1914 (bottom). Though these artworks were painted only nine years apart, there are huge differences in color, light, and form of the two works.
Color:
Woman with a Book has two main contrasting colors that highlight the woman as the center of the painting. She is standing in front of a solid orange wall, which highlights her white skin. Black shadows highlight her limbs and body features, and her clothing just peeks through with less noticeable colors. The third main color in the painting is the solid red book. Since “Woman with a book” is the the title, it makes logical sense to highlight those two subjects; the woman and the book.
Lady In A Park has a very different color scheme. It contains colors from the whole color spectrum and is much messier than Léger’s painting. The colors in the background blend together and blend in with the lady, the subject of the painting, as well. While the lady has colors distinct enough to distinguish between her articles of clothing, they blend together as well and don’t all match. The jumble of colors allow the woman to blend in seamlessly with her surroundings, conveying the message that she’s one with the park and is thoroughly enjoying her stroll.
Light:
The lighting in Woman with a Book is relatively bright, and allows the woman to stand out against the background. The darkness of the shadows around her silhouette and hair helps emphasize the lightness of her skin. All of her features are highlighted with light and dark colors, which lets her hair, eyes, nose, and lips pop out. The flowers that she is holding in her hand are relatively dark, diverting the viewers eyes away from them to the book.
The lighting in Lady in a Park is much more monotone, contributing to the idea of the lady being at one with the trees and nature around her. Though there are many different colors, none stand out above the others. The sky is not light nor dark, just a shade of blue that blends in with the rest of the surroundings.
Form:
Woman with a Book is painted with very structured, almost separate pieces put together to form a coherent being. The woman’s nose, neck, arms, and even fingers look like they were cut out of paper and pasted onto one another. Her face is perfectly oval, and her eyebrows, eyes, and mouth are very angular and perfectly edged and curved. The flowers, book, and woman are all very clearly made separate from one another. These separate shapes contribute to the painting looking almost three dimensional.
Lady in a Park is the complete opposite of Woman with a book in terms of form. The lady looks like she’s not even separate from the trees, like she’s just another one of them. The different colored trees and leaves just mush into forming a background to the painting. There is very little definition on the woman’s body, as her torso and legs look like one large shape. Very faint shadows distinguish the thin arms from the body. Overall, the lady seems to just blend into the painting because of the lack of angles and edges.
