Feb. 19, 2013

A Formal Analysis of John Constable’s Seascape with Sailing Vessels on the Horizon

John Constable is one of the first Romantic artists to view landscapes for their own beauty. He painted during the Industrial Revolution and as a result viewed industrialization as the degradation of the natural environment. Constable’s dystopic view of the Industrial Revolution is evident in his paintings in which he juxtaposes elements of the natural world and industrial world to convey a certain message. In his painting Seascape with Sailing Vessels on the Horizon, Constable contrasts the pollution of the sea with the serene, vast sky to depict the grandeur of nature and its tenacity even in the face of industrialization. Constable noticeably uses color to describe the contaminated and tumultuous waves of the sea in opposition to the glowing and still sky. The viewer’s eyes first jump to the tide hitting the beach and creating a splash of water at the forefront of the painting. The colors used at this location are navy, mustard yellow, brown, grey, and creamy-white. These colors in the sea connote to filthy, muddled water. Furthermore, there are a couple of distinct dashes of deep, dark grey colors at the splash site that add to the effect of making the water seem dirty. The colors in the sea are most intense at this splash site but the viewer also notices specks of burgundy through out the sea that confirm the pollution and impure composition of the sea. In contrast to the sea, the colors of the sky are more uniform and brighter in shade. Constable uses grey and white in the clouds and the value of these colors are much lighter and more consistent than the grey and white used in the sea. The blue shade of the sky, similarly, is consistent through out the top half of the painting and conveys a sense of calmness. The clouds are highlighted with tints of purple that augment the peaceful emotions evoked by the sky. In the background, a couple of ships are created from specks of white and dark grey that are sailing on the left side of the painting. These colors are used to almost make the ships inconspicuous to the viewer’s eye because any other color would have made the ships stand out. Inferring from the colors used in this painting, Constable seems to be emphasizing the impurity of the sea and how it may have been tainted by ship pollution due to industrialization. The juxtaposition of colors in the sea and colors in the sky further magnifies the sea’s filthiness in contrast to the untouched beauty of the sky. From his usage of color in Seascape with Sailing Vessels on the Horizon, Constable seems to be enlightening the viewer on marine pollution caused by industrialization. John Constable uses various forms, shapes, and lines in the painting to convey and contrast a tumultuous sea versus a passive, tranquil sky. When the viewer of the painting looks at the sea, they notice the chaotic brush strokes that form crests and disorderly diagonal lines that create waves. There are also many specs of white depicting the foam in the sea, especially to the far right where a big splash is occurring. The confusion and fast-paced nature of the sea evokes a sense of turmoil and conflict that is occurring in the ocean. Many crests of the waves are pointing upward to the sky, moving the viewer’s eyes to look at the horizontal and uniform brush strokes of the clouds. The nonchalant, wispy brush strokes of the ships in the background detract the viewer’s attention away from the ships. The ships are barely noticeable and the contour outlines of them are only visible because they are positioned parallel to the horizontal horizon of they sky. The texture of the sea is very different from the sky. The lines and colors of the waves are much more choppy and the paint is literally distinguishable and layered. The sky and clouds, however, are blended in too each other creating a sense of unity and oneness in the “heavens.” Constable uses myriad strokes of lines to form the composition of his painting and direct the reader to notice the turbulence of the sea in contrast to the stillness of the sky. Again, he is conveying the havoc of industrialization by painting commotion in the sea and juxtaposing that to the quiet arrangement of the sky. The medium Constable uses also reflects what he is trying to convey to the reader. He paints Seascape with Sailing Vessels on the Horizon in oil on brown paper and that suggests that the brown color used is the underlying tone in the painting. The brown color connotes to pollution and so Constable is using the meaning of that base color as the theme for his painting- industrialization is defiling the natural environment. The oil medium used in this painting also augments the tarnished effect the sea gives off. Because oil is so easy to layer, the coats of paint on the sea add depth and make the waves more three-dimensional to the viewer. The layers in the clouds create a smooth, puffy texture and add to the surreal effect of the clouds. Constable’s composition and use of space and scale is integral to the message he is trying to convey in the painting. The sky takes up two-thirds of the painting and the sea takes up about one-third. The viewer therefore feels the grandness and magnificence of the “heavens” compared to the chaotic sea. Constable also makes the ships miniscule compared to the ocean and the sky, suggesting that man-made technology is insignificant and trivial compared to the grandeur of the natural world. The painting is life-like and the clouds are painted true to how one would see them in nature. They fill up most of the painting and emphasize the vast and unlimited boundaries of nature. The sea is composed just like one would see in nature, although some of the colors the viewer would not immediately notice in a polluted sea and therefore Constable exaggerates the color to portray pollution. When the viewer first looks at the painting, her eye moves from the upper left hand side of the grayish white cloud to the middle of the painting where she sees the dark colors of the sky and then to the bottom right hand side of the painting where there is a big splash depicted. This movement of viewer’s eye is on purpose—Constable possibly wanted the reader to first look the serene sky and then compare that image to the dirty sea. Constable manipulates color, lines, shapes, scale, space, and composition to make a certain impression on the viewer of the painting. The interrelationship of all the formal elements makes the viewer feel guilty for what industrialization has done to nature. The pollution of the sea from industrialization is emphasized in the dark, mustard-like colors of sea and is contrasted to the pure, untouched sky. The tumultuous waves depicted by disorderly lines and irregular shapes further emphasize the violent and chaotic effect industrialization is having on nature. Constable uses ships in the background to make it clear that man is causing this turmoil in the natural environment. Despite all the negative effects industrialization is having on the environment, Constable believes nature will triumph and will outlast the detrimental effects of man-made technology. He conveys this by making the sky much larger than the polluted waters and overshadowing the ships in the painting. The clouds are also much brighter than the rest of the painting and represent the purist section of the painting. The emphasis on the ethereal beauty of the heavens suggest that Constable has hope that nature will endure the hardships from industrialization and still remain as grand and magnificent.