Realism & Colors Of War

This is The Charge of the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba, 1917 painted by George lambert in 1920. This painting depicts the 4th Light Horse Brigade galloping towards Beersheba to seize the town in 1917. I feel as though this painting and a realistic sense of light and makes you feel as though you are looking across these small hills.

This is The Fall of Palestro, 1859 that was painted by Gerolamo Induno in 1860. This painting depicts the very first victory won by the Piedmontese army against the Austrians. Gerolamo painted the sky and environment in a way that you can almost feel the air in this painting. I like how the colors on the uniforms of the troops fade as the street goes on.

This is The Dutch Fleet, Commanded by Admiral Opdam, which was painted by Frederik Christian Lund in 1885. This painting depicts the Dutch navy, which had just won a battle against a Swedish fleet. In the perspective of this painting the sky is painted in such a way that gives a massive sense of space. The sky and the clouds work together so well in this piece to give you a sense of this breezy looking day.

This is The Last Moments of John Brown painted by Thomas Hovenden in 1884. This painting depicts John Brown being taken to his execution for trying to incite a rebellion amongst enslaved African Americans in the South. You get a sense of the sadness of this day as John Brown kisses a baby goodbye. I chose this painting because of how real the light is which helps capture the moment.

This is Bellicourt Tunnel, which was painted by Athur Streeton in 1918. This painting depicts the Bellicourt Tunnel which is a five mile underground tunnel used by the Germans until it was captured by American and Australian troops. I really like how light the colors in this scene but also how dark the darks are for instance that big shadow in the middle. You can really get a sense of how dry and destroyed the land is after they had bombed it.

This is East meets west (First british convoy en route to Berlin) which Colin Colahan painted in 1945. This painting depicts a convoy on route to Berlin with German refugees and troops evacuating areas that were being taken by ally troops. Colahan never used field sketches and work directly in oil, which gave his paintings a hurried sense. Although he rushed to capture the immediacy he still captured the feeling of a gloomy day with the depth and color of the sky.

This is War, which was painted by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes in 1867. Depicted is the state of War, this is a four part series depicting one of the four human conditions; Peace, War, Work and Rest. I feel as though this painting sums up the theme of this gallery depicting a realistic looking day of gloom and mourning.

This is Sea Batle of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, which was painted by Willem van de Velda the Younger. Depicted are multiple ships of opposing forces fighting on the sea in the Anglo-Dutch war. I chose this painting because of the incredible detail in the light off the sky and the smoke clouds. The boat on the left grabs my attention most with its beautiful cannon fire smoke cloud.

This is The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras painted by Elizabeth Thompson in 1875. Depicted in The 28th regiment making a heroic stand at the crossroads of Quatre Bras during an onslaught of Napoleon’s army. I picked this painting because I loved how the light shined through from the back line of soldiers and perfectly comes from straight out of the immense sky. The wall of troops seems to go on forever or so it seems.

This is The Eve of the Battle of Edge Hill, which was painted by Charles Landseer in 1845. Depicted is a council of war in the Royalist camp the day before the first battle of the English Civil War. This painting goes perfectly along with my theme for realistic wartime paintings because of the amount of detail in the scene. The light coming in from just overhead shines bright down onto this table surrounded by men reflecting in the light.