Seen from Above

Betrand de Miollis, on a rooftop in Paris

During the hot summer months, I have been looking out my studio window at the activity nearby. I have wanted to paint the view from my window--partly because it is an interesting view, and partly (I must admit) because I want to work in the comfort of air-conditioning. But I have been afraid to tackle it. I have been unsure that I could make the third floor point of view, looking down, successful.

"The Census at Bethlehem"
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566

Well. A little trot through art history has almost convinced me to set my fears aside and give it a go. I read that as long ago as the 1500's, artists would climb church steeples in order to get an ariel view of their villages! Just above is a 16th century painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, very convincing from an elevated point of view. And If Bertrand de Mollis can take the vantage point shown in the top photo,

then certainly I can paint out my window. (Surely the rooftop photo has been photoshopped--yikes!?!)

"Marathon Race, New York"
Gouache on paper, 17 1/8 x 8 3/4 in.
Joaquin Sorolla, 1911

I found wonderful examples of high angle views painted by some of my favorite artists.  Joaquin Sorolla stayed at the Savoy Hotel in New York in 1911. He painted from his hotel room window, which appears to have been quite high. These works are painted with gouache. Some of them are on the cardboard used by the hotel laundry for folding shirts. Never let a painting opportunity go by, even if you have to improvise with your materials! 

"Statue of Washington, New York"
Gouache on paper, 16 1/4 x 12 1/4 in.
Joaquin Sorolla, 1911

Another of my favorite artists, Edouard Vuillard, did a number of paintings from a window of his home in Paris, looking down on Place Vintimille (now Place Adolphe-Max). They were painted from a fourth floor window, and give a bird's-eye view of the square. The first image below is a five-panel screen (interestingly, also painted in 1911, the same year that Sorolla was in New York). The last image below shows two of Vuillard's studies for a different commission of the same square. 

Five Panel Screen for Miss Marguerite Chapin, Place Vintimille
Distemper on paper, mount on canvas
Edouard Vuillard, 1911

I think it is interesting that all of these paintings are in a long, vertical format. The sweeping view here is not only from front to back, but also from bottom to top--from sidewalk immediately below the window to rooftops across the way. In fact, I think it is this bottom to top visual journey that makes these paintings so interesting. Love the different point of view! Dare I give it a try??

Study for Place Vintimille
Distemper on paper, mounted on canvas
Edouard Vuillard, 1910