Why do the scenes in the art of Waterhouse seem bigger than life?

Asked by Ltryptophan (12091

) November 15th, 2010

John William Waterhouse has some incredible paintings….

He represents a strong facet of my tastes in art regardless of how widespread images of his paintings are in this culture. (I refuse to let the fact that everyone else’s knowing about something good that I like, would make me think any less of it. If I liked Harry Potter. Well, I wouldn’t care that a bunch of screaming college manchildren who play fictional quidditch liked Harry Potter too. In fact I might join them, if I was so inclined.)

So all that said, and probably unnecessarily, what is it about Mr. Waterhouse’s paintings that would make an actual picture set up in the same manner, less dreamy.

Is it the light? Is it the medium?

How is this done? Is that the genius of the artist?

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5 Answers

Link?

gailcalled (54644

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His saturated color palette and voluptuous women reflect his fascination with the pre-Raphaelites.

marinelife (62485

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Circe

Ltryptophan (12091

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I don’t know that is was any genious per say. He borrowed from the Impressionists and so did not stick completely to the standards of the preRaphaelite brotherhood who were trying to move away from mechanical formula in poses and coloration and return to the vibrance of color and life like poses reminiscent of Michelangelo and Raphael. If you look at the works of Alphonse Mucha you can see that Waterhouse had an illustrators eye in terms of composition, use of color and light.

Joybird (3159

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@joybird what is an illustrators eye?

Ltryptophan (12091

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