Below you'll see several paintings depicting scenes from the French Revolution.
Information about these and other paintings of the French Revolution can be found at wikimediacommons.org.
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How do artists turn a war scene into art?
What do they show in order to tell the story of the war?
Is there a feeling they are trying to convey?
Are there any common elements to these paintings?
What do you think makes a war painting good?
Is it color, light, style, content, or something else?
Tell us your thoughts!
I think a war painting works best when it conveys a sense of what is at stake. What are the opponents fighting for? What motivates them? What are they feeling? The same can be said for music or poems related to war. For example, look at Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. He works in pieces of the French national anthem, church bells ringing in Moscow, and, of course, the cannon. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to what we now use as our national anthem while watching the British bombardment of Fort McHenry(?). Read all the verses to that anthem. The Charge of the Light Brigade is another good example.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 'anonymous' above - a war painting is good if it can tell you a lot about the experience and the feelings of the people fighting. I think the top painting is a great example of a painting that shows what's motivating the war. The kids (and their dog) in the front of the scene seem to be really still and peaceful, and the movement all around them seems to be celebrating their victory and their freedom.
ReplyDeleteFor a war painting to be any good at all it has to show the chaos and intensity of the fighting. I think artists do that by showing a lot of action, like people in the middle of a fight. Or they show people dead. I think the color red is a must in a war painting which is why I think the second painting is absolutely terrible.
ReplyDeleteI think the people in the bottom painting look like little floppy toy soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI think war art needs to express action. It needs to give you the feeling of aggression. It also needs to show motion and make you see motion in the painting.
ReplyDeletePlain and simple - blood. War art needs blood.
ReplyDelete