Captain George K. H. Coussmaker (1759–1801)
The name of the artist is Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was a British painter born in the year 1723 and died in 1792. He is described by (The National Gallery) as the leading English portrait of the 18th century.
His painting of Captain George K. H. Coussmaker is the choice of subject for analysis. As described by (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), George K. H. was born in a military family. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to a lieutenant, a captain and a lieutenant colonel. Despite the ranks and promotions, Captain George never offered any active service to the military. This painting was done in the year 1792 between February 6 and April 16. The Captain and his horse were drawn in different settings. Sir Joshua Reynolds spent around 8 sessions with the horse and another 21 sessions with Captain George.
The painting is of a portrait type with the stature of the Captain occupying the majority of the painting’s height. Adding to the fact that Sir Richard Reynolds was a renowned portraitist, this painting was done as a request by Captain George. This approach was taken by portraitists who were paid for such paintings as this. Some of them did them out of pure inspiration.
The picture dimensions are 93 and ¾ inches in height and 57 and ¼ inches in width. These measurements translate to about 238.1cm by 145.4cm. Getting the proportion of height to width results to 2:1. It seems that Sir Reynolds understood the effect that the frame has on an observer’s eye. They get a lot of attention in a portrait. The painting is subjected to a soft harmonious relationship between the frame and the portrait. The colour of the frame blends naturally with the painting to an extent that one can the frame as having a soft discordant relationship. The frame is a few shades brighter than the dominant colour of the painting. The frame is also thick enough giving the painting a royal finish. The canvas was a great choice for the subject. The canvas seems to have married the mood of the portrait with the gentle demeanour that Captain George was known for. The canvas enabled Sir Reynolds to bring out the details of the horse and the attitude of the face of the subject. It was appropriate for the subject.
The frame fits the portrait without covering important parts of the subject and its surroundings. The advantage that the artist had was that the main focus of the painting, the horse and the captain, fit almost exactly in the centre. This arrangement leaves room for filling in aspects of nature around the subject. The frame, in this case, acts just as a complementary boundary to the portrait. It serves as a good border to the painting.
The material used for the portrait is a canvas. This was the best choice. Its durability is considered a top priority. It is for this reason that the portrait, dating back in the 18th century, is existent till today. The artist, Sir Johnson, must have understood the great painting experience that the canvas offers. The painting was done using oil. As explained by (What makes Oil Paintings to be the Most Unique?), oil is the preferred stylish choice for the artist. Their longevity is one of the reasons why it is the choice for many artists. Most of the antique oil paintings were done by prominent artists just like Sir Reynolds. Oil paintings have a way of making the wall that they are hung on appear majestic
Throughout the portrait, the paint has been applied thinly. The mane of the horse appears realistic with the details in how the wind blows the mane confirms how careful the painting was done. The leaves of the tree behind the subject show a separation of the branches and the leaves. To be able to accurately show the mood of the subject, great detail was to be applied to the painting. The artist must have used a fine brush. A coarse brush might have been used in the background when filling it up with the grey clouds. The painting shows that the colours used are opaque with some reservations for the clouds in the background. In the painting, colour has been used to bring out very bold features of the subject. The portrait shows no evidence of the use of paper collage.
There are several objects in the painting. They are three in number. They include Captain George himself, the horse and a tree which the main subject of focus is leaning on. The other object in the painting is the cloud although it is not as prominent. To the outside world, the objects in the painting have been mapped on a scale of 1:1. They are neither exaggerated nor too small to be realistic. The tree is taller than both the captain and the horse. This relationship is realistic. These shapes can be termed as irregular. None of the objects or subjects has a regular shape. These objects form a kind of natural pattern. This pattern is seen through the painting of the tree and its green leaves, the Captain and his horse as well as the path that they are standing on. The clouds also add to this natural pattern.
There is a mixture of solid and background broken areas with the solid areas dominating. The solid areas include all the surfaces of the Captain, the horse, the path, and the bark of the tree. The clouds and the leaves of the tree appear background broken. At the centre, the subject is emphasized and is the main focus of the painting. The marginal areas have lighter colours than the centre of the painting forcing the observer not to give too much attention to the marginal areas such as the sky and the path at the bottom of the painting. There are no ornate shapes inside the borders but the frame is filled with ornate designs that are engraved. The forms in the painting are building bring out a realistic nature of the painting.
The lines in the painting are obscure. There is no explicit line drawn directing us towards the action of interest. The focus at the centre seems balanced. The Captain looks directly at us. The neck of the horse points to the ground. The colours in the painting are subdued. One would be tempted to assume the setting was in the evening. The only bright colours are found in the marginal areas which have the cloud. These colours are low-key. Most of the colours used are plain. Sir Reynolds did not use very many colours. His colour palette was also not so wide. A look at the painting shows that the brown colour used on the horse is the same one used on the ground but with a slightly lighter shade. The grey colour on the subject’s trouser seems to be the one used on the clouds but with a darker shade. His colour choices not wide. The brown-red colour seems to dominate the picture. The reason is that this colour appears on the subject’s coat, his horse, part of the tree and the paths. The dominant colours are cool with no extremes. The colours have been balanced very well.
There is a consistent light source in the painting. The source of the light appears to be both outside and inside the picture. Chances are that the light source from outside was used during the time of the painting. This light source is mild. There are not sharp contrasts. The ones present are muted. This light appears to have been directly facing the objects. The light from inside is the rays from the sun. These rays cover a marginal part of the painting. Most of the shadow in the painting is as a result of the rays of the sun. The light from outside casts shadow on the subject of the photo. Majority of the use of shadows in this painting has been to clarify form or space. Through these shadows, the setting of the painting is assumed to be in the evening. The depths of the object are also seen making them more realistic.
In terms of space, the painting is shallow. The objects of the painting appear nearer to the observer. If one was to enter the painting, they would not go far till they meet the subject and his surrounding objects. The emphasis is on the solid works. All the objects are placed at the centre and look prominent enough to catch the attention of the observer. From the look of things, the artist used a linear perspective when painting this portrait. The artist has tried to show the depth of the objects on the. The objects at the background will appear smaller as they get further away from the observer. The main interest is quite near the observer. The artist has tried to create the illusion of space using recession. The clouds in the marginal areas of the painting appear to recede into space. There is a great use id overlapping in registers. The subject of the painting, Captain George is in the first layer. The second layer is the tree that he is leaning on. Behind the tree, the horse stands. These three are the main objects of the painting. After these three we have the plain field that stretches till the horizon which does not seem to look far.
The painting portrays a high degree of illusion. The painting looks very realistic. There is a great use of chiaroscuro. (Scott, et al) describes chiaroscuro as the use of light and dark to create the illusion of depth in a flat surface painting. The tree in the picture shows a clear example of using chiaroscuro. The front parts of the bark of the tree reflect some light. To show some depth, the side parts of the same tree are darker creating the illusion that the tree is round. The visibility of the boots has been worn by the subject of the painting, bring out some depth in them. The neck of the horse comes out real because of the use of chiaroscuro.
This painting was a portrait, Captain George. Sir Reynolds was paid a good amount of money for this artwork. Due to the seriousness of the task at hand, Sir Reynolds painted it to great detail. The 21 sessions that Captain George committed to shows the seriousness of the painting task that the artist had.
Works Cited
Scott, D., Cassel, Arnon, & Arnon. (2020, February 3). What Chiaroscuro Means and Master Painting Examples. Retrieved from https://drawpaintacademy.com/chiaroscuro/
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437447?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&high=on&ao=on&ft=*&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=14
The National Gallery, L. (n.d.). Sir Joshua Reynolds. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/sir-joshua-reynolds
What makes Oil Paintings to be the Most Unique? (2014, September 8). Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/article/gucwa-vivienne-what-makes-oil-paintings-to-be-the