Death Of General Wolfe Analysis

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History Through Paint Jake Farney 11/6/13 Art 1.2 sect: 0128 The Death of General Wolfe is an 18th century painted by Benjamin West depicting the death of a General during the Seven Years War. Benjamin West was an Anglo American painter during the late 18th and early 19th centuries who became known for his historical paintings. Born in Pennsylvania, he left for Britain around age 25 and never returned. The Death of General Wolfe is an oil on canvas painting painted in 1770 depicting the death of a General during The Seven Years War. With a 59 in × 84 in dimension the painting is no small piece. The Death of General Wolfe is a 3-dimensional piece of work, with a sound geometric base. Most shapes are humans, but there are a few instances of triangles present in the piece. The triangles seem to form a trinity and the character are depicted in a holy manner. Other than the triangular…show more content…
The artist does try and manipulate the skin into looking much softer than the rest of the painting. West does a good job softening certain colors, though it doesn't seem like much else attention was paid to the rest of the work. The Death of General Wolfe is a very deep dimensional piece. Trying to depict a war West draws a deep backdrop depicting the war raging on as the forefront is a peaceful place offset from the war. The scale of objects seems to diminish creating a sense of depth. With the frontal characters overlapping to fit more into the forefront. The main focus of the piece is obviously the center of the work with the figures detailed and emphasized. Lines are not very prominent in The Death of General Wolfe. None seem to stand out in any way with most boundaries seeming natural. The outline of the characters is that of a photograph trying to catch the realism of the piece, with no emphasis or even notion of an outline. So it would seem that lines are not an important piece of

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