Description
The world of art of the twentieth century saw an explosion of stylistic and formal innovations that managed to capture the essence of an era marked by uncertainty and transformation. Among the artists who contributed to this rich creative vein is Eric Ravilious, a prominent British painter and designer whose work has been recognized for his remarkable ability to amalgamate everyday life with the extraordinary, often through landscapes and maritime scenes. One of its paintings More intriguing and evocative is undoubtedly "commander of a submarine looking through a periscope" (Commander of Submarine Looking Through to Periscope).
This work, which is part of its corpus of paintings During World War II, it reflects not only Ravilus' pictorial talent, but also its ability to capture the tension and drama of the time. Manager as an official war artist, Ravilus visited different theaters of the war, including air, naval bases and, in this case, underwater. The choice of themes and their visual interpretation offers us a unique window towards military life at a critical moment in history.
The composition of "commander of a submarine looking through a periscope" is meticulously constructed. Ravilous opts for an inner view that places us within the tubular and confined submarine body. The central figure is, of course, the commander, who is in an upright posture looking through the periscope. The commander, represented in profile, is an anonymous figure, which underlines the universality of the experience described.
The environment in which the scene develops is of an almost surreal serenity, given the warlike nature of the commander's occupation. Ravilus' chromatic choice contributes greatly to this feeling. Tones off gray, blue and green dominate the palette, replicating the monochromatic and claustrophobic environment inside the submarine. This chromatic restriction does not remain dynamism to the work; On the contrary, it imposes a tonal cohesion that increases the emotional intensity of the image.
The space represented, in addition, is composed with a geometric rigor that accentuates the precise and angular lines of the interior of the submarine. The beams and metal panels, although recognizable, take an almost abstract air under the hand of Ravilus, and the natural light that comes from the periscope seems to seep with a quiet and unequivocal clarity.
In addition to visual aspects, which really distinguishes this painting is the implicit sense of narrative. The spectator cannot help imagining what the commander sees through the periscope: is it an enemy ship? A quiet sea? This mystery generates a subtle, but palpable tension. Ravilus manages to involve the observer in the scene, making this not only a war painting, but a deeply human work.
Eric Ravilious shows in this work the culmination of his distinctive style, characterized by a fusion of modernity and tradition. His familiarity with engraving techniques gives his paintings of a graphic quality that catches attention. While their most popular works are usually English landscapes impregnated with a charming melancholy, with "commander of a submarine looking through a periscope" invites us to a more private and tense introspection, an artistic testimony of an era plunged into the conflict.
It is this ability to Ravilous to convert a routine military scene into a visual poem that ensures its place in art history. The painting not only documes a fragment of life in times of war, but also confronts us with the human experience of those who lived and fought during that period.
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