Visual Analysis: Canal Grande By Raphaella Spence

For this visual analysis paper, I decided that it would be best for me to go to the Tampa Museum of Art in downtown Tampa. This museum was the best option for me because it was the best museum that was also the closest of the list of pre-approved museums. When entered the museum, I checked in for free with my USF student ID and then went to up the stairs to observe the art exhibits. The exhibits that were available for view were The Classical World, Greek and Roman antiques, SKY, Photorealism, and more. I started off my visit by viewing The Classical World to see what the sculptures looked like, and they were magnificent. After looking through the Classical World exhibit, I viewed the Greek and Roman antiques and the SKY exhibits. I enjoyed
The photorealistic painting was created and finished in 2007, with dimensions of 41 X 60 In. The medium used for this painting was oil on canvas. The subject matter of this artwork is the representation of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. The Grand Canal is a canal in Italy that forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city and is a popular spot for Tourists to visit. An end of the canal leads to a basin at San Marco and the other end leads to a lagoon near the Santa Lucia Railway Station. It is 3.8 km long, 30-90 meters wide, and has an average depth of five meters. It is a representational artwork because the work depicts a place in the real world during a time period before the painting was created. This artwork is a two dimensional painting that was created in a specific intricate process by Raphaella Spence. Raphaella Spence is a British woman born in 1978 and is an advocate of international broadening of Photorealism. Born in London, she grew up in France and Italy and now creates her works in these respective areas. Her unique process of creating artworks entails taking photographs of cities and places all over the entire world using a 66-megapixel camera. Instead of photographing photos from the perspective and point of view of visitors of the areas, she prefers to fly over the area to take photographs in a helicopter. After she takes the photograph with her 66
The form of artworks usually identify with three dimensional paintings and sculpture, however, this painting has a unique perspective from the view of a helicopter. The viewer of the painting can feel like they are flying across the area because of the perspective of the painting. Another one of the main formal elements of art used in this artwork is tone. The tone of art can either be light or dark with shadows in the darker areas and highlights in the lighter areas. This specific painting that I am analyzing has a tone that is correspondent with lightness. The photograph that was taken of the Grand Canal by Raphaella Spence was clearly shot in the daytime on a sunny beautiful day. The tone has a way of creating feeling for the viewer and can connect them or disconnect them to the painting. The last major formal element of art used in this artwork is color. The colors used in this photorealistic painting makes the artwork stand out with vibrancy and makes the artwork look aesthetic. All of the buildings, canals, people, and overall environment are beautifully decorated and captured in this