Is there more to representing light? Yes! Continuing from Post #1 and moving a little further in time (although this first image is still in the years of the first post), here are a few more paintings analysed. For this second post, we start with Vincent van Gogh. The painting I chose to analyse is not a very famous one, but still very interesting in regards to the way light is represented in the painting. This painting is titled “The Night Café” and is from 1888. If you’re interested, here are some details from Wikipedia on the artwork. The lighting analysis as follows:
> painting elements: interior of a bar (Café de la Gare – famous for being open all night and having all types of night guests), with red walls, green ceiling and wooden floor. There’s a central billiard table and other tables along the walls, where five customers are seating. A person standing with a white suit on the right and close to the billiard table (a waiter?) faces the viewer. At the very back of the room there’s a piece of furniture where bottles are placed on top. On the same wall, there’s a clock, which is apparently showing the time in the middle of the night (maybe 00:10?). and a curtained passage suggesting a connection to a more private area of the Café. Four lighting pendants are distributed in the scene, 3 at the corners and one above the billiard table.
> how’s the light: Yellow, as can be seen from the light spread/painted around the pendants. They seem quite large in relation to the space and emanate a kind of diffuse light in all directions.
> character of light: It’s hard to describe the character produced by the light, as the light itself seems to be an integral part of the figurative painting. The pendants are surrounded by this “light aura”, which is represented by the yellow painting around them simulating how the light is distributed in the space.
> dominant colours: yellow, red and green
> interesting bit: The only visible shadow is the one below the billiard table! Is it because the light is so diffuse? There’s no indication of any other shadow casted, which is one of the reasons I find this painting so interesting in terms of light and lighting representation. Is shadow a compulsory item for understanding the light atmosphere in a painting or representation of light?
From the 5 elements listed at the end of the first post and which appear to be common in the representation of light, light direction, shadow colour of the light can be recognised in this image. The one and only shadow below the billiard table is making its job of helping understand the room atmosphere.
The next image we analyse in this post is from Giacomo Balla. It’s titled “Street Lamp” and is from 1909.
> painting elements: A street lantern and moon.
> how’s the light: The light is emanating from the street lantern in all directions, including upwards. The light and the way it is distributed around the lantern itself is the main topic in this painting. The moon is also represented here, but more as a lit element, without any light emanating from it. Is it reinforcing the feeling of night?
> character of light: diffuse, very bright
> dominant colours: yellow and black, with hints of red, blue and green
> interesting bit: the picture is concentrated in the representation or better yet, picturization of the light distribution. The representation of the moon, the light source of the night in those days, as secondary to the street lamp makes a clear statement and may be seen as a response to a manifesto by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti from 1909 titled “Let’s kill the moonlight”. Are the street lights seen as too bright? Another point is that the light is reaching no other object except for the mast itself. Furthermore, the light is spread in all directions, even upwards, almost making the shape or the top of the lantern invisible, as if the painter wanted to blind or dazzle the observer.
Similar to the painting of Van Gogh described above, the only common lighting elements which appear in Balla’s picture are the light direction and colour of the light.
Our last image for this post, is from Lesser Ury and has the title “Hochbahnhof Bülowstrasse and is from 1922. It is another image of the painter showed in the first post with very dark surroundings, but showing another light character. Here the analysis:
> painting elements: street lights, car lights with reflections on the wet floor, train front lights and train windows lit, station entrance, no human figures (or maybe two at the station entrance, who appear in silhouette).
> how’s the light: direct from the cars or street lights, and long reflections of those on the streets, giving the impression of a wet, maybe rainy evening.
> character of light: the light is very dominant, with strong contrast between the painting elements. The lights are the elements that bring life to the otherwise very dark scene.
> dominant colours: black, dark blue and yellow/orange to represent light
> interesting bit: the scene is defined only by the interplay of light and dark. It is a very dramatic scene, in which the observer understands the context without even “seeing” the elements composing the scene. The artist just indicates these elements by suggesting a blurred outline of cars, street, sidewalk and walls. He’s probably playing with the observer’s mind to complete the image. The lights are the elements which are depicted more realistically and all represented with a similar yellowish colour (the car lights, the street lights, the train lights and the light suggesting the entrance to the station). The perspective of the scene points to the centre left where apparently a tram is coming to the observer’s direction. Is is a one-way street? There are no red colours…
In this last image, we could say that the following lighting representation elements can be seen: reflections and colour of the light. It is becoming more apparent, that not all identified elements need necessarily be present in a painting, or a lighting representation in order for the observer to perceive the presence of light.
This research is still at its beginning, so we’ll keep looking for interesting artistic expressions to comment on and analyse for you. If you would like to keep up to date, join the community by following me.
See you in the next post.
#thelightingtips
Disclaimer: The images shown in this article are for the sole purpose of enhancing the discussion herewith initiated and are therefore used with nonprofit educational purposes.
The Lighting Tips 
