Light and Darknesss by Ronnie Ireland

Our November meeting found us learning about the effect that darkness had on both Caravaggio and Rembrandt's paintings. Ronnie Ireland was our lecturer and he guided us through the lives of these two superb painters.

They used the contrast of light and dark for dramatic effect, but they used them differently, which was demonstrated through a series of their pictures.

Art was commissioned in their days, mostly for the Church or a wealthy patron. The Church painitngs were usually larger and illustrated religious themes but it depended whether it was a Catholic or a Protestant church which was commissioning the painting as each had a differnet point of view.

Caravaggio hawked his pictures in order to become apprenticed to an established artist who would teach him and encourage him to improve his techniques to find a patron for his future. He used dark to convey an undermeaning to his work.

Rembrandt came from a large family of a miller father. He was apprenticed in Amsterdam, before moving to Lieden, where he opened a workshop. He returned to Amsterdam where he painted working folk like the merchants who were all around him. He used drama in his work and the thickness of the paint to enhance his pictures, which was a new technique.

Ronnie took us through the lives, styles and techniques to compare and contrast the work of these two wonderful painters. It made a very interetsing evening.

Diane Bel