Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which translates as light-dark, and refers to the balance and pattern of light and shade in a painting or drawing

Joseph Wright of Derby
*An Iron Forge* (1772)
Tate

Chiaroscuro is generally only remarked upon when it is a particularly prominent feature of the work, usually when the artist is using extreme contrasts of light and shade.

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Selected artworks in the collection

Left Right

Interior, Sunlight on the Floor
Vilhelm Hammershoi
1906
Self-Portrait
Sir Stanley Spencer
1913
Portrait of the Artist
Daniel Stringer
1776
Vignette: Hampstead Heath, Middlesex
John Constable, David Lucas
1831 or 2

View by appointment
Back Drawing
Juan Muñoz
1990
Dunstanburgh Castle from the South
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1797–8

View by appointment

Chiaroscuro

Selected artworks in the collection

Interior, Sunlight on the Floor

Self-Portrait

Portrait of the Artist

Vignette: Hampstead Heath, Middlesex

Back Drawing

Dunstanburgh Castle from the South

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