The flatness is primarily due to a lack of training! Most professional painters in the colonies had
The flatness is primarily due to a lack of training! Most professional painters in the colonies had not received much formal education. They might have apprenticed with an older painter, but there were no art schools yet. They weren’t able to study perspective and lighting in an academy, so their finished works often have that flat appearance. They were concentrating more on basic shapes and outlines. Also, they were sometimes working from printed reproductions of European paintings, so something could be lost in translation. Have a question on your next visit at the Museum? Download our ASK app and ask away.Attributed to Nehemiah Partridge (American, 1683-before 1737). Wyntje (Lavinia) Van Vechten, 1720. Oil on linen, 40 3/16 x 34 9/16 in. (102 x 87.8 cm). #BrooklynMuseum #BKMAmericanart -- source link
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