short answer

John Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare, 1781. Oil on canvas, 39 3340 × 49 1120. Detroit Institute of the Arts (Founders Society purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Bert L. Smokler and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleishman).

Henri Matisse, Woman with the Hat, 1905. Oil on canvas, 29 7 30 × 19 1110. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco

Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, 2005. Oil on canvas, 99 × 99. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn (Collection of Suzi and Andrew B. Cohen).

SAMPLE ESSAY

Question: Compare Michelangelo and Titian’s approach to color and nature.

“Michelangelo and Titian are both outstanding artists who have made huge impacts on the subject of art, though their approaches to their work can be hugely different. Influenced hugely by High Renaissance artists Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael, Titian encourages imaginations and participations from viewer. Michelangelo, on the other hand, references more to human anatomy and the central belief of Humanism: beauty of body. The way they expresses such difference is mainly through colors and contour: Michelangelo cast more emphasis on the harsh contour as well as the contrast between colors; while Titian neglects contour and focuses more on natural color.

Firstly, the color styles of the two are significantly different. Take Last Judgement (1541) as an example. In this masterpiece, the artist depicts a scene where one line of people is elevating to the heaven while the other line falling into the hell. In an attempt to express the seriousness of the religions and holiness, as well as the perfection of human bodies, Michelangelo mixes his colors with black and white, as a mean to raise the contrast level between each objects that make up the space, so that the skins can look perfectly pale and the holiness can be highlighted. Clearly contradicting the color style of Michelangelo, Titian tend to use more soft, natural colors, of which the brightness and intensity are often not very high. His Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne (1523) marks his signature natural way of using colors. In this work, he used variety of earth toned red and yellow to detail the figures, clothings, and animals. Even the color selections for negative space, sky and ground, does not like abrupt at all, due to his avoidance of high contrast between elements.

Secondly, the two artists have a different view on the use of contour lines as well. Michelangelo advocates harsh contours as he believes it singularizes the beauty of human and makes movements vivid. In Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam (1512), he made huge emphasis on the contour of every object within the painting. From god, Adam, to the smaller details like the fabrics behind them. If you look closely, the contour around the body of Adam is so harsh that it looks as if Adam is floating. On the other hand, preferring imagination over reality and stressing the nature over perfection, Titian avoids all forms of clear lines and harsh contours. In Titian’s pastoral symphony (1510), there is barely contour lines since he gives positive space a very natural colors that mesh well with the negative space. As a result, the contour is barely seen and the painting as a whole, looks more like natural world where no contour lines exist.

To sum up, both Michelangelo and Titian are outstanding masters with respect to their eras. And their ways of using color and contour, though vastly different from each other, reflect their own background, style, and school. Most importantly, both styles are intriguing to the futurity.”