George Stubbs Analysis

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Throughout George Stubbs’s long life and for many years after he passed away, he was known as a horse painter. However he wasn’t just a normal painter, he had the ability to capture the anatomy of the horse with astonishing accuracy. Stubbs was the first painter to paint horses as they are. There was no temptation that led him to invent a more muscular horse. The painting Lustre, Held by a Groom’s medium is identified as a drying oil, however within the drying oil is pine resin as well as unidentified non-drying oil or fat. The painting is 40.125 x 50 inches painted on a canvas. The painting is asymmetrical, however it gives off the impression that it is balanced. With the horse’s head being on the side of the groomer, only the horse’s body…show more content…
The canvas was roughly 40 x 50 inches and the frame it was placed in is 47.5 x 57.5 x 3.25 inches from the Yale Center for British Art. This painting is asymmetrical because each side of the work is different. The viewers left side has steep limestone cliffs, which have a rosy glow to them as the sun rises. On the right side are the two gentlemen accompanied by their pointers as they prepare to hunt for the day. Stubbs’s brushstrokes gives off the illusion of mass, volume and depth. Stubbs gives the cliff a great amount of mass. He focused on the detail and makes it look extremely realistic, as if you can climb up it. The lake in the background shows depth and volume. With the reflection of the rising sun and the land being slightly above the water, it seems as if the lake has volume. The gentlemen are placed up front with their canines as the trees and lake take over the background. Stubbs was able to set the mood by having colors in his painting. By having shading in his painting Stubbs was adding black to a pure hue. In addition, he had tints, which he added white to a pure hue and tones which he added gray to pure hues. Brushstrokes are one of the key elements of a painting. In some painting the brushstroke is very obvious and others, it is barely noticeable. Overall Stubbs painting of the Two Gentlemen Going a Shooting, with a View of Creswell Crags, Taken on the Spot does not have noticeable brushstrokes and the painting is smooth. Lines are a significant factor as well because they define the edge of a shape or form. In addition, they are capable of creating patterns or an illusion of mass, volume or movement. The lines Stubbs uses are slightly fuzzy, thin and under control. He does not use any bumpy or popping out illusions, however, the water looks wet, the cliff looks rough,

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