The Harp Of Erin

5 Pages 1199 Words

“The Harp of Erin”
Thoman Buchanan Read’s painting entitled “The Harp of Erin” was done in 1867 using breathtaking hues of greens, blues, and tans. This painting done on canvas using oil paint shows a woman standing almost in the ocean on a piece of sea rock. The woman’s stern, yet passive expression leaves the viewer breathless as her beauty over takes the painting. The painting is organized with the woman leaning into the ocean just enough to get the tip of her toe wet from the salt water and crashing waves around her. The focus of the piece tends to favor the right side of the painting, yet the balance of the background waves and dark hues helps the piece tie together. The scale of the painting provides the eye of the viewer to focus on the almost giant figure in the foreground. With the scale used in this painting we see only the woman and the rock leaving only dark stormy skies in the background and rough, rocky waves to correspond with the stormy scene. The artist uses a variety of shades of blue to help enlighten the face of the woman standing on the ocean. This use of variety also brings a sense of unity to the painting tying all of the shades together allowing it to flow with much consistancy.
The chief stylistic features of the painting are the artists use of light and dark, as well as the extreme detail of both the sea rock and her white, flowing dress. The artist uses the techniques of the line to help add a flowy feel to the painting. This type of style draws the eye to certain aspects of the painting. This technique provides the sea rock to have a realistic feel, as well as it brings the rocky image of the stormy sea that surrounds her to life. The use of line is also present in her dress, as the artist used this downward stroke to draw the viewer’s eye into the frame and picture. The extreme use of light and dark in the shades of the hues also helps to bring this 2-D image to life. The ar...