The first formal element that I noticed in Gare Montparnasse (The Melancholy of Departure) is value. Giorgio uses value in order to make the oil painting seem more three dimensional. This action is called shading. An example of shading in Gare Montparnasse (The Melancholy of Departure) is the wall in the background. The top of the wall is darker than the bottom of the wall, which gives it a more three dimensional visual. Another formal element I noticed is shape. In Gare Montparnasse (The Melancholy of Departure) Giorgio relies heavily on geometric shapes. The painting has very straight lines and incorporates a lot of normal shapes. For example, the pillars are rectangular as well as the walls. Giorgio uses simplistic shapes in order to emphasize a sense of certainty and dreaminess. …show more content…
More specifically, the painting uses perspective to give depth to the picture. When you look at it, you see a wall that seems to be quite far away. This is possible because Giorgio used a multi-point perspective in order to give the painting different perceptions of depth. Some things seem farther away, while others look much closer. Another formal element that the Gare Montparnasse (The Melancholy of Departure) incorporates is time. Giorgio incorporates time by eluding to the fact that the sun is setting in the background. You see the light fading away as if you were watching a sunset. The last formal element that I could find in this painting was motion. If you look at the right-hand side of the painting you see smoke coming out of a train. This is an implication that the train is moving, thus implying that the scene in the painting is alive and not just a