Comparison of artworks
The American School shows five artists having a conversation in a studio. The two artists in the foreground are painters since they are holding paint and brushes. The man on the third left seems to be drawing something. The dress code symbolizes an era long gone.
The Hatch Family is a portrait of a family, and from the name of the painting, it shows that it is Hatch Family. There is an older man with white hair, showing he is the oldest and all the others are his children and grandchildren. There are other adults and children. In total, the portrait shows three generations.
Content of the Paintings
The American school shows a studio. This indicates that the figures in the picture are all artists, and they are engaging in a conversation. The person in the foreground, to the left, seems to be the one in charge of the conversation since he is the one showing the second left person a work of art. The others are all looking to the left to the person on the left, considered to be Benjamin West. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The Hatch Family is a portrait of the hatch family. The man sitting on the right is considered as Hatch himself, holding his wife. To the right, the older man with white hair is Hatch’s father, with his mother next to the father.
Context of the Paintings
A look closely on The Hatch Family shows the room, as well kept and the family intact. This shows prominence. In reality, Hatch was a Wall Street broker and also the president of the New York Stock Exchange for some time. The picture depicts wealth that wall street business leaders have and their lifestyle. The carpet, walls, curtains, table, and art on the wall shows wealth.
The American School shows artists in a studio. During these periods, many people loved art and artists were celebrities and famous people. Even today, the most famous artists are those during such periods in the 15th to 17th centuries. The artists are sharing ideas, showing many artists during such times worked together.
The style used in the Paintings
The Hatch family has a realistic style, with the family having a moment for a perfect picture. The entire family symbolizes wealth, and in real life, wall street traders have a tendency to wear suits as depicted in the painting. The painting also uses representational style with the carpets, curtains, chairs, and desks being things we use in our daily lives. The way the family is seated, the husband and wife being next to each other, and children playing looks like a setup, making it an idealized style.
The American School similarly uses a realistic style. The clothes the artists are wearing depict the form of dressing during the 18th century. Besides, all the artists have the same hairstyle, which shows a kind of fashion during those times. Clothes that the American school is a form of American culture for a certain period, thus the painting has cultural style in it. The curved head at the background of The American School looks takes on abstract style, since it is a human head.
Formal Analysis
The Hatch Family uses unity to create a sense of closeness. The family was seated in different chairs with husbands and wives being together in the portrait. Hatch is holding his wife, with his father next to his mother. The carpet has a beautiful pattern. Color is used to distinguish the members of the family, with the senior members all wearing black and children white.
In The American School, the artist has used variety to show different traits of the artists. For instance, some artists are holding paints and brushes while others are holding a drawing board and pencils. Such use of a variety of tools differentiates painters from drawers. Much emphasis is placed on the two men on the left. The other men are looking at them, with the left person being at the center of what is going on in the painting. Most of the drawing and painting boards depict their form and shape.
The medium used in the Artworks
The Hatch Family is a painting using oil and canvas. Similar to the American school. Both paintings depict high-quality work by the artists, which is also well preserved.
Comparison of the Paintings
The American school and The Hatch Family have used some similar elements. For instance, both have used forms in the painting. The cast in both paintings are lovers of art and both have some paintings, hanging on the wall for The Hatch Family and on one of the cast for The American School. Both of the paintings in the cast’s possession are three dimensional.
Both of the paintings have also used the effect of color, with The Hatch Family incorporating hue using black for the clothes of the seniors and white for the children. The American school has used bright colors for the cast to add some intensity in the background.
Texture is used several times. In The American School, for example, the texture is used to show the softness and care taken by the cast for their hair. The socks that all the casts are wearing are shown to have a soft texture. In The Hatch Family, the table has a texture of the soft but rough surface, with the designs depicted at the sides of the table.
Both paintings have used all types of shapes, such as squares or rectangles for the paintings the cast have in their studio and library, and tables that are rectangle in shape.
A major difference between the paintings is the use of space. The Hatch Family has a spacious room, as depicted in the large unoccupied space at the foreground. The American School in contrast, has a small space for the studio. It is shown that the cast are occupying almost all the space, with the table at the center of the studio.