FRENCH SIX DAY BICYCLE RIDER BY EDWARD HOPPER

FRENCH SIX – DAY BICYCLE RIDER BY EDWARD HOPPER

ART CRITICISM BY ABBIE R.

DESCRIPTION ELEMENTS OF ART AND MEDIA

WHAT THE ART LOOKS LIKE • The French Six – Day Bicycle Rider is a painting by Edward Hopper. In this work of art you can see three men that look like they are either preparing or finishing a bicycle race. One man is sitting in a box like bench with a curtain, while another man is working on the curtains. It is clear that a bicycle race is occurring since there are bikes in the bottom left corner. There is a French flag in the upper left corner, so you can tell that this event obviously took place in France. The title also mentions that the race took place in France, and that it took six days.

ELEMENTS OF ART • Color is one of the most important parts of the French Six – Day Bicycle Rider. In the painting, I can see different variations of reds, shades of green, blue, and tan. • The texture is rough in some areas, but smooth looking throughout most of the painting. The type of paint used makes a big difference when it comes to texture, and this type of paint just happens to have a smoother look to it. • Line is shown in the curtains and on the box like bench. It mostly represents the out line of objects and any details inside of the individual parts of the painting. • I see rectangles, triangles, and half circles that help shape the way objects look, but these shapes I listed are not exact in the art work. • Form is represented all throughout the work of art, it looks three dimensional and realistic. • I can see value in the shadows and the way light is reflected/shinning on the objects. • The space is filled almost completely, and I don’t see very much negative space. Altogether, the negative and positive space fit well together.

MEDIA Edward Hopper • In art, media is the type of material that is used to create the specific work of art. • In this piece of art, Edward Hopper used oil paints. • He typically uses oil paints when he is painting, so it makes sense that he used them in this situation too. Oil paints Types of media

ANALYSIS PRINCIPLES OF ART

PRINCIPLES OF ART The painting is very well balanced and proportional when it comes to the sizes of objects and the people. The bike riders are what are really emphasized. Variety is shown through the lines and value. The movement takes the eye from the man sitting, to the chairs and people on the far right. The work of art has some rhythm, but there is no actual pattern in the rhythm. You can see unity in the entire piece of art since everything compliments each other making it a whole.

INTERPRETA T ION THOUGHTS AND MEANINGS

WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE WORK OF ART? • Personally, I love the French Six – Day Bicycle Rider! The painting is such an amazing representation of a French bike race. Since the event took place in 1973, the men in the art work are dressed differently, which is very fascinating to me. I love how realistic the painting looks: like a moment captured. It makes me think that maybe he experienced the bike race and was actually there painting everything in the moment. This work of art really stuck out to me.

WHAT DOES THE PAINTING MEAN? • As I mentioned before, the painting could have represented a time that Hopper experienced. If that is not the case, maybe he was just really interested in bicycle races.

EVALUATION JUDGEMENTS

JUDGEMENTS • I would not change anything about Edward Hopper’s painting, but I do wish that he would have named the work of art something different. When I look at the painting, I don’t just see the bicycle rider, I see it as a whole setting. The title makes it seem as if the man sitting is the only important character there. Then again, it would be nice if there was also more detail in the faces of the men. It is already realistic, but there is some detail missing. Overall, I love the painting.