Night in paintings (Western art)

For works from the Eastern world, see Night in paintings (Eastern art).

Archip Kuindshi, Moonlit Night on the Dnieper 1882
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, 1874 [1][2]

The depiction of night in paintings is common in Western art. Paintings that feature a night scene as the theme may be religious or history paintings, genre scenes, portraits, landscapes, or other subject types. Some artworks involve religious or fantasy topics using the quality of dim night light to create mysterious atmospheres. The source of illumination in a night scene—whether it is the moon or an artificial light source—may be depicted directly, or it may be implied by the character and coloration of the light that reflects from the subjects depicted. They are sometimes called nocturnes,[3] or night-pieces, such as Rembrandt's The Night Watch, or the German Romantic Caspar David Friedrich's Two Men Contemplating the Moon of 1819.

In America, James Abbott McNeill Whistler titled works as nocturnes to identify those paintings with a "dreamy, pensive mood" by applying the musical term,[4] and likewise also titled (and retitled) works using other music expressions, such as a "symphony", "harmony", "study" or "arrangement", to emphasize the tonal qualities and the composition and to de-emphasize the narrative content.[5] The use of the term "nocturne" can be associated with the Tonalist movement of the American of the late 19th century and early 20th century which is "characterized by soft, diffused light, muted tones and hazy outlined objects, all of which imbue the works with a strong sense of mood."[6] Along with winter scenes, nocturnes were a common Tonalist theme.[7] Frederic Remington used the term as well for his nocturne scenes of the American Old West.[8][9]

  1. ^ Whistler versus Ruskin, Princeton edu. Archived June 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved June 13, 2010
  2. ^ [1] Archived 2012-01-12 at the Wayback Machine, from the Tate, retrieved April 12, 2009
  3. ^ Lawton, Denis. (1992). Education And Politics For The 1990s: Conflict Or Consensus? (edition reprint). Psychology Press. p. 150. ISBN 0750700793.
  4. ^ "Tonalism and the "Nocturne". Detroit Institute of Arts. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  5. ^ Anderson, Ronald and Anne Koval. (2002). James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth. Da Capo Press. p. 186. ISBN 0-786-71032-2. (Note: need to verify this was the edition used.)
  6. ^ Marter, Joan. (2011). The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, Volume 1 Oxford University Press. p. 54. ISBN 0195335791.
  7. ^ Conrads, Margaret C. (1990). American Paintings and Sculpture at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Contributor: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Hudson Hills. p. 148. ISBN 1555950507.
  8. ^ "Artistic experiments". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  9. ^ "18 images of Remington's nocturnes on 18 web pages". National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.