Key Words
oil painting; cropping
Questions to ask
Many artists paint views from windows. Do some research and find examples of this by other artists.
In this image, it looks like beautiful weather outside. Why do you think that the artist chose to paint the scene from the inside?
This image shows an interesting contrast between an inside and an outside space. Does the image make you want to go outside into the garden, or does it make you feel as if you should stay inside? Why?
How this might inspire your work
The window provides an interesting frame for the landscape, as it only allows the viewer to see a certain part of the larger landscape.
Think about viewpoints, and about how objects can be used to frame and crop images in interesting and unusual ways.
Create an image where you are looking at a landscape through an unusual object.
Through a Cottage Window, Shipley, Sussex, between 1930-1940, oil on canvas by Charles Ginner (1878-1952).
Ginner's composition is dominated by the lush green landscape seen through the window. The small window, brightly-coloured curtains and comfy chair hint at the cottage of the title. Vincent Van Gogh was the single most important influence on Ginner's work; perhaps this influence can be seen in his characteristic painting style, as in this work where the paint has been applied in small, densely-worked touches.
Ginner was born in France and settled in London in 1910 where he became a founder member of the Camden Town Group and a key member of the Fitzroy Street, London and Cumberland Market Groups. At the outbreak of the First World War Ginner would eventually serve as a lieutenant for the Canadian War Records, and in the Second World War he served again as an official war artist. In the intervening period he made this work in his Neo-Realist style.
There are these inscriptions on the exhibit:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, purchased by Edward le Bas 1948
Image © reserved
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