Effets de soir (also called effets desoir or effets de soir et de matin) [1] are the effects of light caused by the sunset, twilight, or darkness of the early evening or matins. They appear frequently in works by such painters as Vincent van Gogh, [2] Bernard Fries, [1] Armand Guillaumin, [3] and Camille Corot. [4] [5] Literally, it means "effects of evening" in French.
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from the Equator, the equinox Sun sets exactly due west in both spring and fall. As viewed from the middle latitudes, the local summer Sun sets to the northwest for the Northern Hemisphere, but to the southwest for the Southern Hemisphere.
Twilight on Earth is the illumination of the lower atmosphere when the Sun itself is not directly visible because it is below the horizon. Twilight is produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, illuminating the lower atmosphere so that Earth's surface is neither completely lit nor completely dark. The word twilight is also used to denote the periods of time when this illumination occurs.
Evening is the period of time at the end of the day, usually from 6 P.M. to night. It is a daily astronomic event of variable time period between daytime and night, and the period in which the daylight is decreasing, after the afternoon and before night. There is no exact time for when evening begins and ends. Although the term is imprecise, evening is typically understood to begin shortly before sunset and during twilight, lasting until night – typically astronomical sunset. There can be no precise definition in terms of clock time, but it is socially considered to start around 5 P.M. or 6 P.M. and to last until night or bed-time.
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This was part of a group of techniques used by Impressionists such as impasto, en plein air , color theory, and thick strokes of oil paint on canvas.
Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface in very thick layers, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture; the paint appears to be coming out of the canvas.
En plein air is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look.
In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art curated a major exhibit of van Gogh's work of effets de soir. [2] [6] [7] [8] [9] The exhibit included such iconic paintings as The Potato Eaters , The Sower (Van Gogh), Starry Night Over the Rhone [10] The Starry Night , and The Night Cafe . [2] [6]
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The museum will be temporarily closed to expand its galleries from June 16 through October 21, 2019. MoMA PS1 will remain open on its regular schedule.
The Potato Eaters is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands. It is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The original oil sketch of the painting is at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, and he also made lithographs of the image, which are held in collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The painting is considered to be one of Van Gogh's masterpieces.
The Starry Night is an oil on canvas by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it describes the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an ideal village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Regarded as among Van Gogh's finest works, The Starry Night is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture.
