WRITING THROUGH ART 2020
Hi Everybody
We hope you had fun answering the questions on the paintings! We have given suggested answers but in some cases there may be others which you have come up with which are just as correct and that’s fine. People have different ways of looking at things. Let’s see how you did!
Old London Bridge
1. The effect is called ‘perspective’ and, as you will have noticed, one of the main ways an artist can do this is to make things smaller the further away he wants them to look. The typically Dutch style referred to is the large amount of sky often seen in Dutch views, sometimes two thirds of the painting!
2. Here are some suggested difficulties in painting reflections:
– The water needs to be very flat to get hard outlines: if it isn’t, the reflections will probably need to look a bit wiggly!
– The artist has to paint everything upside down and back to front!
– The colours will probably need to look softer or paler and if the water is moving there may be little signs of waves or ripples on top of the reflections, very tricky to paint!
Any other ideas?

3. The market which used to be on the bridge is Borough Market!
John Joseph Merlin
1. Long ago men used to wear swords, usually hanging on their left side so that when they reached for the sword they did it with their right hand. When they met someone in peace, they would tuck away this hand to show they were not going to reach for the sword. What we often do now instead is to shake hands.
2. Merlin is holding a tiny weighing scale in his left hand; you can just see it hanging from his finger at the bottom of the picture. It was used to weigh gold sovereigns to make sure no-one had clipped off any gold! No true gentleman would ever refer to money in his portrait. People would think he worked for a living! Merlin was very clever but he was still a businessman, selling his inventions to make money.
3. Later, when this new way of painting became popular, the artists who used it were known as ‘Impressionists’. Here are some of them, but you may know others: Cezanne/Degas/Manet/Monet/Pisarro/Renoir/Sisley.
Hawking in the Olden Time
1. If we look in the background, we see tents, a castle and a tournament going on. Also one of the riders is wearing armour so a good guess would be we are in medieval times.
2. Landseer is using a large, almost empty and smudgy sky behind the birds. In contrast, the plumage of the two birds is painted in great detail, with sharp outlines and flashes of white against the dark sky. Their size tells us that they are right at the front of the picture and Landseer has emphasized their frantic, tumbling movement through the air with the swept back, spread out wing feathers and the twisting neck and kicking legs of the heron. Do you think he succeeded in making a 3D effect?
3. The 3 stages are:
a. On the right, the ‘cadger’, responsible for carrying the hawks on his perching frame and preparing them for flight when required;
b. In the middle, the hawking party has caught up with the heron and has sent off the hawk to catch its prey;
c. To the left, the main action is shown with the hawk bringing down the heron.
Let’s see how your titles came out!
Mrs. Tollemache as ‘Miranda’
1. ‘Miranda’ is stretching out a very pale arm and spread hand right underneath the shipwreck scene, which draws our attention to the ship and the rough sea above the fanned out fingers.
2. Joshua Reynolds has painted movement in the fabric of Miranda’s dress to outline her bent knee, which shows her stepping forward. Also her gold scarf is flying out behind her.
3. A portrait of yourself as a character in a Shakespearian play would tell people that you read serious literature and therefore were well educated and intelligent. It was always a good idea to actually read the play first, in case the character you chose was not written as a particularly nice person!
A Portrait of the Artist
1. Did you manage to spot Rembrandt’s painting equipment in his left hand, buried amongst all the brown paint? If you did, it was probably because Rembrandt has painted white spots of paint on the tips of his brushes to attract your eye to them.
2. As we look at the painting, the light is coming from the left and throws shadow on the right side of Rembrandt’s face, which makes it more expressive and interesting. The light also catches some patches of thicker paint on his cap, his hair and the tip of his nose, all areas where Rembrandt is using some skilful and quite modern technique; strong, flat slabs of white on the hat to frame his face and thin scratches with the wooden end of the paintbrush in his hair and, under that nose, his moustache giving them more movement.
3. There are so many emotions shown in Rembrandt’s face and everyone sees things differently but here are a few suggestions: sadness, worry, misery, satisfaction, confidence, pride……
Thank you for taking part and answering all these questions. We hope it will help you remember the paintings and don’t forget that Kenwood House is free to visit all year round, so once we are open again you can come in with your family and friends and see the paintings for yourself! In the meantime, enjoy your summer break!