Art Work essay----Wendy Hsieh

Joseph Mallord William Turner—Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute, ca.1835. This is a piece I saw when I visited “The Metropolitan Museum of Art” in New York during spring break. It is oil painting on canvas. I like the way that it is approximate symmetrical balance. It looks very balance no matter on the position of buildings/boats or on the value which I like it a lot.
I like the value in the painting a lot, it grabs my attention right away when I see it at first time. The color of the water looks so calm and clear. The author even drew the reflected image of the boat that appeared on the water. Also, I like the value in the front is darker and is lighter in the back which create the layer and different distance. I also notice that the author draw some greenish thing on the building (left and right) and in the middle of the painting-on the boat, which I think works really well because the color of the building seems so white. So he adds some greenish color to balance the building and boat with sky and river.

After I read the description board underneath the painting, I find out that the scene in the painting is actually combined by two different viewpoints along Grand Canal in Venice. Also, the author extends the height of the building in the background at the left and adds some building in the background at the right. I think higher height of building at the left in the back really balance out the whole painting. If he didn’t add the height than the building at the right front would be too high and it wouldn’t balance out the whole paining.