Luminosity and Shadow

Light is a crucial and fundamental element of our visual perception, I completely agree with Arnheim in his explanation of its importance in the first paragraph of his chapter on light. In fact, Monet lost much of his vision due to acute cataracts in his eyes. Ultimately, distinguishing the direction of light was the last remaining element of visual perception he possessed with the cataracts. By reading both the Livingstone chapter and the Arnheim chapter, one understands the true importance of light and all of the parts of our visual perception that it affects. At the beginning of the Livingstone chapter (pgs. 108-109) there is a figure that demonstrates how shifts in the intensity of light, or luminance, are the most successful and powerful indicator to our eyes of depth. I thought the last circle in the figure, the one which has a very faint gradient illustrates this principle incredibly successfully. When one views that circle, its depth becomes immediately apparent, however, the circle next to it that has merely a color gradient appears totally flat and two dimensional.

Livingstone goes on to trace the evolution of artists’ techniques in conveying depth, and variations of light in their work. Adding white or black to a color as Michelangelo did to convey depth and the effects of light sources had such a different effect from those employed by Rembrandt and Ingres who used gentle shifts in background light combined with abrupt shifts in local shading to achieve the impression of depth in their work. Relativity seems to play into light/dark visual perception immensely as one can see illustrated brilliantly in Rembrandt’s Meditating Philosopher on page 124. Areas of the painting feel lighter or darker, yet much of this is based on the contrast between local areas and lightness or darkness of the surrounding background. For example, Livingstone brings to the viewer’s attention the fact that the cross on the window appears to be darker than the crown of the philosopher’s head because of the way we perceive its location in the whole image, yet in actuality the reverse is true.

Shadow is something that Arnheim discusses in detail in his chapter on light, which I think is an important and interesting addition to an examination of the perception of light. Arnheim distinguishes between two different types of shadows, cast or attached. “Attached shadows lie directly on the objects by whose shape, spatial orientation, and distance from the light source they are created. Cast shadows are thrown from one object onto another, or from one part onto another of the same object” (Arnheim, 215). I understood these definitions to describe two different types of shadows within the painting El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent. The shadows on the wall and the ceiling are cast shadows caused by the strong angled light from in front of the dancer as it falls over the crowd and the dancer. The shadows within the folds of the dancer’s clothes are attached shadows. These shadows define various aspects of the painting and the scene. For example, the cast shadows show depth and distance between the dancer and the crowd of figures behind her. The shadow on the ceiling cast by the dancer is much larger and at a different angle because she is standing practically above the light source whereas the figures behind her are father away from the light and lower. The attached shadows within her clothes define the folds of the fabric and the volume of her form. In so doing they also convey some movement and tension because they provide cues to the viewer of the location and positioning of her body.

El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent

Madame X by John Singer Sargent

Madame X is another painting by Sargent and it helps to illustrate concepts of luminosity and shading. Madame X’s skin captures much of the intrigue and allure of this painting. It is so white, and bright, it almost glows. It is luminous. Arnheim explained, “an object appears luminous not simply by virtue of its absolute brightness, but by surpassing the average brightness established for its location by the total field” (Arnheim, 325). This is certainly is involved in the painting of Madame X and is responsible for making her skin so eye catching. Contrast between her skin, her dress and the background makes her skin appear incredibly bright and luminous. The gentle shading on her arms, shoulders, neck and face give the forms just enough definition without detracting from the luminosity. This is the sort of gentle shading that Livingstone demonstrated our perception of in the figure on pgs. 108-109. Madame X’s dress also has some shading, but as Livingstone says, in instances such as this it is hard to discern the form of her dress because attached shadows on black are much harder to see than attached shadows on any other color. Nonetheless, the shadow is there, important and perceived however faint it may be.