Castle Overlooking a River

The drawing I analyzed is called “Castle Overlooking a River,” located at The Getty. This charcoal drawing is very simple yet incredible. Maxime Lalanne, a French painter and printmaker in the 1800s, created it. Many of his paintings are actually a call for a political protest. During the mid 1800s, when France fell into its Second Empire, Lalanne drew paintings of political symbolism to criticize the living conditions of their country (in terms of industrialization and poverty). This painting is a reference for one of his many architectural drawings that show a quiet side of France, opposed to what he usually drew. It encompasses the nature and true beauty of France despite the fallen side to it (slums).  

This drawing caught my eye because it covers one of the drawing elements we were required to do for this course. It focuses on the simple sketches and use of charcoal in a 15 ¾ x 11 5/8 in. piece. Through charcoal, Lalanne was able to intensify the nature by making it look as realistic and serene as possible. It almost looks like a really quick sketch but the amount of detail stops it from making it seem so easy. For example the color, there really isn’t any besides the vintage look due to the time the drawing was created in. charcoal isn’t meant to have color, just color in terms of composition and themes. I think the painter captured the essence of a calmer and less industrialized version of France in the late 1800s.

Something inspiring about this piece of art is the technique he used to create the piece. For instance, one could automatically notice how he used soft vine in the background of the artwork. He might have used lighter shades of charcoal in the upper left and upper right hand side of the trees. Then he finally used a darker charcoal to intensify the details of the tree trunk, bushes, and part of the trees. The texture of the paper helps bring out some of the strong elements of charcoal. At a distance, we can actually see the castle to the left hand side to maybe portray how close yet how far we are to nature in comparison to the industrialized areas of the world, which seem close and persistent.