Composition - examples of note

[Mike McCarty]

Richard,

What a beautiful painting, thanks for that. I'm surprised that the Met would be so accommodating. I'll bet that a tour of all that is NOT displayed would be almost as gratifying.

Here are a few paintings by Edgar Degas. Now here's a fellow that understood a soft edge. This last painting is remarkable for so many reasons. When you consider all that he has accomplished in this composition it is staggering. From this single perspective he has successfully portrayed all the many characters of the evening. Even with greatly different lighting and the vast distances between the subjects he has managed to create more than just a suggestion of each, while drawing more attention to one. Not only is she in the highest key, but with the introduction of the woodwind(?) instrument against her dress (not exactly where he found it I'll bet) he creates the sharpest contrast.