Luminous Choices

In the 1930s, the French artist Balthus (bal-TOOS) intended to paint a series of four landscapes depicting the seasons. His 1936-1937 The Mountain, above, originally titled Summer, is the first and only work he completed for this series. In The Mountain, the artist depicts mountains in Switzerland that he visited as a child. 

Balthus uses light to craft a mysterious narrative. He divides the composition in two: the shadowed foreground and the luminous middle ground and background. The warm summer light illuminates details that are farther away, like the cliff’s rough textures and the hikers in the background.

Balthus uses light and shadow to move the viewer’s eye from one figure to the next. He builds the scene this way to make the viewer curious about the narrative. Who are these people? Why are they on the mountain, and what are their relationships to one another?

In the 1930s, a French artist named Balthus (bal-TOOSS) wanted to paint a series of paintings dedicated to the seasons. The Mountain, above, is the only one he finished. At first, he titled the landscape Summer. In this work, Balthus uses light to build a mysterious narrative, or story. 

The artist paints the foreground in shadow. He shows the middle ground and background in bright sunlight. The warm summer light emphasizes the cliffs’ rough textures and the hikers in the background. Balthus uses light and shadow to guide the viewer’s attention to each of the figures. This might make you curious about the narrative. Who are these people? Why are they on the mountain? Do you think they know one another?

Aaron Douglas worked during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and ’30s. During this period, African American artists, writers, and musicians in Harlem, a New York City neighborhood, expressed ideas about Black people’s shared experiences in the United States. In his 1936 Aspiration, above, Douglas uses light to represent the journey to freedom. 

In the foreground, Douglas paints hands bound in chains and shrouded in dark shadows, symbolizing enslavement. Above the hands, light bursts from a star, representing the North Star, which led many escaped enslaved Black people to freedom before the Civil War. In the center, the artist renders three silhouettes. One of the figures points toward a bright, modern city on a hill. Douglas leads the viewer’s eye from the shadowed past at the bottom of the composition to a bright, hopeful future at the top.

In the 1920s and ’30s, Aaron Douglas worked during the Harlem Renaissance. This period in history took place in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. There, African American artists expressed ideas about Black people’s experiences in the United States. 

In Douglas’s 1936 painting Aspiration, above, he uses light to show enslaved Black people’s journey to freedom.

In the foreground, Douglas paints chained hands and dark shadows. These images symbolize enslavement. In the middle ground, light shines from a star. This stands for the North Star, which helped guide many enslaved Black people to freedom. Douglas paints three people in the center. One of them points toward a bright, modern city. Douglas leads the viewer’s eye from the dark past at the bottom of the painting to a hopeful future at the top.

Many of Janet Fish’s still lifes feature objects with transparent surfaces. To create her 1972 Apples, above, the American artist draws apples in plastic wrap, like you might see at the grocery store. This study explores the effects of light on objects. 

“Plastic wrap catches the light and creates fascinating reflections,” Fish says. “I liked the way the plastic was going over the solid objects, and I liked how it broke the forms up.” Fish adds white highlights on the surface of the plastic, illustrating the reflections made by a light source outside the picture plane. These highlights, as well as the shadows, function like countour lines describing each apple’s form. Fish emphasizes the negative space between the apples by showing the highlights on the plastic stretching between them. 

Before you begin reading Radiant Ideas, use what you’ve learned to think about how and why each featured artist uses light. 

Janet Fish includes transparent objects, like plastic, in her still lifes. In Apples, above, Fish draws apples in plastic wrap, like you might see at the supermarket. The 1972 work explores how light affects the objects. “Plastic wrap catches the light and creates fascinating reflections,” says Fish. “I liked the way the plastic was going over the solid objects . . .”

Fish sketches highlights on the plastic to show reflections made by a light source. They stretch across the plastic, drawing attention to space between the fruits. 

Before you begin reading Radiant Ideas, use what you’ve learned to think about how and why each featured artist uses light.