Quote of the Week

Drawing is the honesty of art. To draw does not mean simply to reproduce contours: drawing does not consist merely of line. Drawing is also expression, the inner form, the plane and modeling. See what remains after that. Drawing includes three and a half quarters of the content of painting. -- Jean Auguste Ingres Quote

Monday, January 30, 2012

The Night Watch

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The Night Watch


In the painting, Rembrandt depicted a group of militiamen in an original way. He did not paint them in neat row or sitting at their annual banquet, rather, he recorded a moment. A group of militiamen have just moved into action and are about to march off. Some of the men in the painting were not happy with how they were represented. Why do you think this might be?

Interesting Facts:

*thought of as one of the best known paintings in the world, it is also known by the name, "The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch."

*it is very large (the men are life sized) at 11 ft 10in x 14 ft 4in

*For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name by which it is now commonly known. This varnish was removed only in the 1940s.

For your comment: Tell me whether or not "Night Watch" is a success/worthy of being so well known. Try and use art terms in your analysis (line, shape, value, texture, color, perspective) as well as what you know about the Baroque era.

59 comments:

  1. Rembrandts, "The Night Watch" was innovative for its time. It depicted a crew of guardsmen in a fashion never before seen. Other than this, it's not really all that special. Art critics seem to take small inconspicuous things and blow them way out of proportion...like taking a painting, similar to every other in almost every way, and calling it a modern masterpiece.

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  2. I think it's fine for how it's known. It defiantly isn't a masterpiece but the artist did to something risky for his art that made some people angry and that alone I think it enough for the art to be known for.

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  3. This painting seems to have a strange perspective at first glance. It makes you feel like you are right in front of the men. The color is dark and it is an asymmetrical painting that almost draws you into the scene taking place.

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  4. The artists uses the lines of the guns and spears to create depth in the painting. Its also dark toned piece, leaving the light around the angel a key visual point in the art work.

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  5. In its prime "The Night Watch" was very innovative, but i believe now it is just a remembrance and nothing special. The painting seems to hold a strange view, which makes you feel like you in the room with the men.

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  6. it seems normal i guess their just getting ready to fight i don't see why some of the soldiers were un-hapy with how they were depicted

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  7. I think it should be very well known. Its one of the best paintings in the Baroque period and should stand out! It shows the use of lighting, how and where it all began. It shows how the men dressed in that period, and etc.

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  8. I like it and it should be looked at more,it is really cool but i only like it cause it gives a small glimps of soldiers

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  9. I think the painting was probably a masterpiece in its time. However, now we see all of the other past painters' works and compare it to this one. It doesn't measure up.
    I like the lighting of the painting, or rather, the darkness of the painting. I also like how the artists used lines to create the motion of the militiamen.

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  10. it make you feel like you in the room with the man.

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  11. It is dark. and the light is keeping the two person have plan

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  12. This painting is a masterpiece because it is the first i have seen to use funny dressed midgets as the main idea. It shows that little people can be admired too.

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  13. I feel like "Night Watch" WAS a success of being well-know. Sure some of the men in the painting were not happy with how they were represented, but it still gave a positive effect off others.

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  14. The painting may have been great for it's time, but I don't believe it is 'one of the best known paintings in the world'. The painting is very detailed and depicts the militiamen well, but it seems like any other painting at this time.

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  15. I can understand why the soldiers were angry about how they were depicted because when we focus on the angel among the crowd of soldiers we see that she has a horrified face as she looks upon the men around her. This was quite symbolic of Rembrandt's or possibly someone else's disapproval of what these men are about to do. I personally don't consider this painting a masterpiece, it may have good qualities of lighting and texture, but i find that it isn't worthy of the title "masterpiece".

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  16. I believe this painting has good qualities to it, but i don't think it is as detailed as it could have been

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  17. I feel it is a success because it was very detailed. I don't see why soldiers would be upset because it was what they were doing.

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  18. I can understand the way the people feel by the way the artist did the faces, and showed emotion. I don't think it's a awesome piece, but, also isn't one of the best.

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  19. I feel it was a success because it was very detailed. I don't see why soldiers would be upset because it was what they were supposed to be doing.

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  20. It's all dark except the middle, specifically, the two men and the blond women. Most lines point to them too, not to mention it was beautifully done.

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  21. I think it was a success because it was very detailed

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  22. The Picture Could Have Been Way More Detailed But It Does Look Really Good & He Did A Good Job Making Sure It Is Dark & Light All In The Right Places

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  23. The piece is definitely an excellent one. There is a lot of detail and texture, and it is very clear that a large amount of time was spent creating it. However, this piece doesn't make me feel very strongly about any particular emotion. To me, art should be moving, and have an impact on you. This painting seems almost like a photograph. It's bland, in a way.

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  24. The picture was fine just the way it was

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  25. it focuses on the two dudes in the front

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  26. I don't think they colors they used made it really blurry. I don't think the artwork should be as famous as it is.

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  27. I think it was alright, and well detailed

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  28. It has very good details, so it to me was very successful.

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  29. its a nice piece of work and will live on forever

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  30. It is very detailed. The use of values helps add to the painting. It took a lot of time and effort, and i do think it worthy of being well known.

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  31. I think it is was an success how he did not paint it in a neat row he liked to change it up.

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  32. I do not believe that under today's standards of art that this piece would be regarded as such a masterpiece however considering the time at which he painted this the concept was still fairly new and never been seen

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  33. This painting uses light to focus ones' eye on the center of the painting, this is typical of the Renaissance and Baroque period. I like the painting, though I would not call it a masterpiece.

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  34. I think some of the soldiers were unhappy with the way they were depicted in the picture because the soldiers standing at center who are the main focal point of the painting appear to be clueless and don't know what to do.

    -Black 3 Journal 3

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  35. the color of the painting is dark, painter just used light to the center so that it is like light from god. some soldiers are not happy, maybe it's because the war.

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  36. I think this painting is well done. But as for it's fame, I do not think the quality of the painting is great enough to where it should be this famous. It does use variations in light as most paintings do in the Baroque Period which is probably why it is famous.

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  37. Some of the people in the painting were angry because they didn't like where they were placed. some people only had an arm showing or it was to dark to see them.

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  38. I think some soldiers werent happy because he seemed as they was depicted as a guilty man as the angel above looked down at them with fear. I think there could have been a bit of guilt to do with this painting but other than that i love the lighting of the painting and how realistic it looks.

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  39. Yes because it shows the stress and anger in the military of the the night watch man

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  40. i think that they might be unhappy because they are having to march and they might want to be doing way more things, back in that time period

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  41. I believe some of the men were not happy with how they were represented because Some of their faces (when considering lighting or color) were darker. Rembrandt painted the men who didn't pay him a lot of money, with hats on their heads that covered their faces, or would paint them turned around backwards where you couldn't see there faces. This is why they could've been unhappy, because they weren't seen clearly in this famous painting. To consider the value, yes it is a very famous painting and a good one, at that, but it doesn't seem like a very important painting.

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  42. I think they should be mad because, they could have been doing more important things.

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  43. I think some of the men were not happy with how they were depicted because some of the men were not even doing anything. Some men were barely even in the painting. Some of the men's faces were not shown. I would think if they paid to be in the painting, they would want to be a big part of it.

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  44. the artist used light and darkness to create depth in the painting

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  45. I think the painting has a dark value and he used more dark colors to show the what it means. It's ovoiusly a war so they show it with weapons and the value of color. It's a really cool piece, i like it.

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  46. i Mean The Painting Was Ok But i Think it Wasnt Worked on as hard as other paintings Were nd i can see it being a success in this time because of the theme but other than that i dont think its gonna be that sccessful just because its not that creative

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  47. With the shading and the way the colors are placed it has a lot of depth and the illusion of complete darkness like the night, as the name suggests

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  48. i dont think they will be successful, its full of dark colors and dark color usually indicate death!

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  49. i think it fine be cause art in you own eyes so i gess if that the way he fealt that how he panited

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  50. Is it okay if I just completely agree with Jonah Clark? Because I do...

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  51. i think it is cause it isnt sugar coated like most paintings it seems like something that would happened in real life, the best part would be the depth of dark colors.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for emailing me. I see that it is here.

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  52. Hayden Hobgood Ph.D
    I don't think that the painting is all that good because it doesn't show anything major, just a bunch of men in a group that are not interesting in the littlest bit now if it was abstract it would be different. I think instead it should be non realistic so that everyone could get a different meaning out of it

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  53. The painting was alright, but I don't think it looked as good as the other paintings.

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  54. The Night Watch was worthy of its success. It truly captured a moment, which many paintings of the time failed to do. It's an interesting view and it was very dark. The men were life-sized, and that's really fun. It depicts a soldiers being soldiers.

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  55. it's a good piece of art could've been a little bit more of detail like more color and brighter but overall it's a good piece of art.

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  56. I believe that this is a good piece. But then again if you're a famous artist, anything you do can be considered a "masterpiece". Seriously, Picasso painted some of the UGLIEST paintings that i've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that if I were to walk down the kindergarten halls of Sutton Elementary, or Newton Parish, I would find many MANY Picasso's. With this being said, I don't believe this painting was a "masterpiece" but it does depict and point out some major details. So, Kudos.

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