Raimonds Staprans Blue Boat

Siddharth Buddharaju
Linda Becerril
Art 1
1 March, 2018
Museum Paper: Blue sea, upon which boats float After visiting the San Jose Museum of Art I selected the work Blue Boat, an oil on canvas work done by Raimonds Staprans. Staprans is a local artist who lives and works in San Francisco but is originally from Latvia and moved here in 1947 and that journey influenced his art. He is known for making abstract works from what we would consider recognizable and common objects, added his own spin to the concept of abstract art. This particular work Blue Boat makes use of lines, color, and modeling as visual elements of the work which come together to create a sense of visual rhythm. Lines are a particularly prominent part of many of Staprans works
This particular work employs both contour lines to define different objects but implied lines as well. The horizontal lines give a sense of calm to the work and that is the primary form of line used. This calm sense fits the work and accentuates the effect of using cool colors like blue. There are a few lines which are diagonal, normally this is used to imply some kind of action and can be used to create a sense of drama. However in this work work the diagonals are not too steep and the lines themselves are soft so instead of a dramatic flurry of movement it still remains calm while create a slight sense of slow movement of the boats and water. Not only this they help guide the movement of our eyes as well. Color is another major part of Staprans work which as we mentioned before uses flat planes, sometimes this planes and shapes are made mostly with color to separate the forms of separate objects without necessarily using distinct lines. This particular work uses mostly blue which is a color that often gives a sense of calmness, which again matches the scene he is trying to create of boats slowly moving amid a calm body of water. The prevalence of blue unites the whole work from the very bottom to the blue sky at the very top. It still maintains a sense
Our eyes are drawn initially to the boat at the bottom, the largest object in the work, this is because of both it’s size and the weight given to the object through modeling. From here we follow a sort of zig zag pattern following the debris and the other boat and it’s wake until we reach the top of the work where we see the horizon. This draw of our eyes takes us on a sort of tour through the work while also giving us a sense of the possible movement of the objects within the work in a simple and elegant manner. Finally the decision to use oil paint is one that many artists make as a result of it being easier to paint with oil because of it’s versatility. One example of this is that it is easily removed from the canvas allowing the artist to revise their work more easily. I think this greatly aids Staprans in detailing the work to precisely portray the effect he desired. Raimonds Staprans work shows a simple form of elegance that makes heavy use of color and lines in planes that portray a sense of depth through modeling. The works themselves are usually simple in nature and concern or focus on ordinary objects however often times they portray an abstract meaning. It is this combination of easily understood objects with