Saturday, July 24, 2010
Another point of view
In an interesting post over at Unreal Nature, there are comments about paintings which then, as is usual in art and music, at a later date turn out to be 180 degrees out of sync with what comes to be established opinion (I am certain that there are artists where opinions sway back again to ground zero or, perhaps, 42 degrees, anyway.) What struck me was the comment "lopsided". This referred to Matisse's rather avant garde painting of Notre Dame, but I was struck by its applicability to the photo out of Matisse's studio window, the scenario for the paintings. It drives me wild when people print photos crooked. (I know, I know, I am a Neanderthal). In any case, I took the liberty of photoshopping that particular photo simply by righting it (2) and cropping it (3). To my eye it is much more pleasing and doesn't make me think that I am going to topple off the edge of the planet, thankfully not into the Seine.
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4 comments:
I think you may be mistaken in taking the lines of the cathedral as being level. It's not a frontal view of that building -- the right side is nearer the viewer so the left side will converge to the vanishing point.
DrC> It drives me wild when
DrC> people print photos
DrC> crooked.
For a little extra dose of wildness, see these pictures.
Enjoy the subsequent photoshopping session – I look forward to seeing the results [grin].
You certainly piqued my interest.
If I had to guess, I think M. Sembat might have meant "lopsided" in the sense of "heavier on one side". The entire mass of the church is above and slightly left of center with nothing to counter balance. The other paintings have objects and buildings, and a stretch of river allowing for movement ( of the eye?) from the upper to the lower half.
But the "lopsided" church is anchored and seems prone to be unstable.
Julie, I don't think that, at that distance, the cathedral is big enough to warrant that much perspective. Its only a difference of 20-30 feet as an estimate. Also, the tower should be straight up and down as it is (mostly) in the paintings. On the other hand, I am always willing to agree with the photographer's eye.
Felix: see above.
Montag: Interesting thought. The more I look at the cathedral the more it reminds me of (ugh) Dali's "St. John of the Cross."
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