A German artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze who was raised up in America painted Washington crossing the Delaware in Dusseldorf, Germany around 1851. Leutze examined the uniforms and the sword of Washington and carefully studied the paintings/sculptures that were done during Washington’s lifetime. ("George Washington Crossing the Delaware, Metropolitan Museum) Despite his intensive studies, he painted this with a romantic style that led to some historical inaccuracies, but managed to emphasize Washington as the dominant figure in the painting. The painting depicts Washington and the men of the Continental Army crossing the Delaware River on a Christmas night in 1776 to launch a surprise attack on the Hessian Troops of Great Britain in Trenton, New Jersey. Their eventual victory led to subsequent victories in Princeton and the revival of Washington’s army. The French, who were willing to see Great Britain lose its colony in America, and the disintegration of Britain’s empire in America, provided the American army with supplies, which were also crucial in the American Revolution. In the end, the American Revolution ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris, with America being freed from British colonization.
In this painting, Leutze uses perspective, a skill that allows the painter to create depth within a 2d surface through the depiction of the soldiers with various sizes according to distance. For example, Leutze painted the soldiers in the foreground boat significantly bigger than the soldiers in the background boat, which creates the illusion that the painting is moving out forward. ("George Washington Crossing the Delaware, Metropolitan Museum) In addition, the contrast between his use of brighter colors for the soldiers in the foreground and the use of dull colors for the soldiers in the background also adds a sense of 3 d in the painting. Influenced strongly by realism, Leutze wanted to depict the picture as it would look like in real life; the use of “atmospheric perspective” in which he made the faraway boats fade in the distance as it would in real nature. ("George Washington Crossing the Delaware, Metropolitan Museum) Given the fact that the British defeated the Americans before this battle, leaving the Americans with extremely low morale, George Washington is erect and determined in stature as if he has full confidence in defeating the British. By emphasizing his stature with the color of red that easily attracts the attention of the viewer’s eye, this conveys hope and Washington’s determination in gaining liberty from British colonization of America despite the obstacles. The moving flag next to Washington adds a sense of motion in the painting and its upright stature symbolizes the dominance of Americans and the eventual liberty that the Americans would achieve a few years later. One can notice that red is not used in the background because it is insignificant compared to the foreground and the use of red emphasizes the importance of Washington in the picture.
There are some controversies on its historical inaccuracies. For example, the time when the surprise attack was carried was during Christmas night when the weather was harsh and even snowing; technically, the mood was supposed to be dark and soldiers must have looked reluctant as well due to the weather. Also, it was known that it was extremely dangerous to stand on those type of boats because they were extremely unstable on the waters of the Delaware River. However, it can be interpreted that Leutze purposefully disregarded the historical accuracies to represent the glory of the Battle of Trenton. Through, his use of light in the skies, it conveys a sense of hope from a world of darkness and that Washington would be the one bringing the light to the American revolutionaries against the British. Although, it may have been dangerous to stand in the boat, it also shows that without any risks there would be no achievements. Through Washington’s strong resolution, it seems like he is an inspiration for the other men in the boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment