Georges de La Lueur
Unsurprisingly, clear records about Georges de La Tour’s early career do not exist. What little we do know is that he was born in Vic-sur-Seille, France, that he may have trained under Jacques Bellange, and that, in time, he would settle in Lunéville.
He would eventually become known for his religious, candle lit scenes. Echoing the striking chiaroscuro of Caravaggio. King Louis XIII, Henry II of Lorraine, and the Duke de La Ferté would collect his works. La Tour and his family would utlimately succumb to an epidemic in Lunéville in 1652.
In Georges de La Tour’s Joseph the Carpenter, we can really see is simplification of the human form into basic shapes. I think this adds to the effect of the light as more detail may have been distraction.
In The Penitent Magdalen, we see La Tour almost treating the candle, and it’s reflection as the main subject of the painting.
Here we see La Tours ability to render a more diffused light as the candle is obscured by the parchment.
Smoker shows La Tours Chiaroscuro skills with a bluer light instead of the yellow flames of a candle.
One of La Tour’s brighter works. This piece really demonstrates the solemness, even with the brightness, that he is able to render.
I appreciate Georges de la Tour’s work as I can relate to his dramatic use of lighting, and darker atmosphere. His rendering of candlelight is so well done I can almost feel the heat coming off my screen!
Honorable Mentions
George Stubbs
Théodore Géricault
