Art Analysis: The Old Pine

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The Old Pine, Darien, Connecticut painted on canvas with oil was painted by John Frederick Kensett in 1872. Kensett painted this like many of his other later works in his island studio near the shore in Darien, Connecticut. John Kensett was born March 22, 1816 and passed away in December 1872, due to heart failure. Very well known for his landscape paintings, Kensett painted many of upstate New York and seascapes of costal New Jersey, Long Island and New England. Kensett is said to be of the second generation of the Hudson River School. This “school” or artistic fraternity, was an American art movement that was embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism. This group of the second generation …show more content…
Kensett painted mostly in a landscape orientation, but this particular painting is in a portrait orientation. On left of the painting is a large grey colored boulder (an organic shape) which is seen as a large mass in the painting. There are small pines on the far left distance, and a larger, older pine (an organic shape) towering over the others, while leaning over the rock towards the center of the painting... The right side of the photo is the blue water which seems to be calm and still. The large pine in this painting would be a figure, what we first detach and focus on. The water, sky and rock would be considered the ground, which is the surrounding visual information, that the figure stands out from This painting would be considered representational, because of the fact that the painting depicts forms in the natural world. The Old Pine literally is a place in the world, where Kensett lived near the end of his life. Where he had painted many other famous landscape portraits, and depicted them just as truly as this. This painting could also be considered naturalistic. Naturalistic because of the fact that it seems the approach Kensett used when painting was one in which he portrayed the visible world that emphasizes the objective observation and accurate imitation of appearances (Getlein pg30). This painting was made to exactly represent the forms being portrayed. The Old Pine painted by John Frederick Kensett is also considered to be a still life painting. Although the nature around was not strategically placed by the artist himself in such a way to create the central focal point. Kensett placed himself in the position to create the old pine hanging over the cliff to be the focal point that draws your eyes into the painting. The old pine and big rock in this painting each create a heavy visual weight to an admirers eyes. Where the light blue sky and water