Art By Style

Luminance is often used to characterize reflection from flat surfaces. This technique is most known as characteristic of the luminist artists who painted in the Hudson River School. The Hudson River School was a mid-19th Century American art movement by a group of landscape painters, whose vision and subject matter was influenced by romanticism. Their paintings depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, as well as the Catskill Mountains, Adirondack Mountains, and White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Stephen Hannock

The luminosity indicates how much luminous power will be perceived by an eye looking at the surface. Luminance is thus an indicator of how bright the surface will appear. In art, the use of luminance gives the piece an ephemeral quality. The light source is glowing yet gives the piece a hazy, tranquil quality. The main component is a strong light source that is said to illuminate the painting.

Jane Bloodgood Abrams