Created in the 1856, The Blind Girl is a painting that was illustrated by Sir John Everett Millais. The painting was created to address pressing social issues in the 19th century. His purpose for the painting was to attract attention to the less fortunate. They include impoverished and disabled within England, with a focus on young people. Millais portrayed the two as victims, rather than criminalizing the blind girl and her presumed sister. The paintings history and subject matter really spoke to me, reflecting many of my own beliefs and experiences. My personal observations begins with these two girls, resting by the roadside as they go along on their journey, displaying sort of an organic scenery around them. The two are immediately apparent, being covered by a red shawl. The blind girl being the elder one, appears to prefer to keep her eyes shut, while tightly grasping her younger sister’s hand for comfort. The younger sister is curious yet anxious from where they rest, as she stares at a double rainbow that just appeared after a rainstorm that is shown on the painting with the use of gray, cloudy sky. …show more content…
From the letters that seems to be strapped around her neck depicting “Pity the blind”, to the blended and darker color of the shawl from top to bottom, that revealed that the girls were damp because of the rainstorm. Other noticeable features would be the single red with black colored butterfly resting on the right side of the blind girl’s shawl. The sisters’ clothing stand out appearing to be old and dirty, with added patches and tears on their skirts. On the lap on the blind girl is an instrument, appears to be a concertina, which tells me that the instrument is the reason for their travel, to make some money in exchange of entertainment. These details did not become apparent to me until the painting caught my full
Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to
Our attention is drawn down by the diagonal light ray coming down from the top center of the painting to first the young girl in the green dress and the rest of the musicians. Our gaze is further directed to these same musicians by the flute played by the shirtless angel-like man.
Contextual Theory: This painting depicts a portrait of life during the late 1800’s. The women’s clothing and hair style represent that era. Gorgeous landscape and a leisurely moment are captured by the artist in this work of
I found The Raising of Lazarus and Annunciation to be interesting pieces on their own as well as to be compared. At face value, these paintings do not appear to contain many contrasting features. However, by examining these paintings closely, one can conclude that paintings with similar themes, mediums, and time periods can still differ in countless ways. Light, medium, subject, color, space, and viewpoint are just a few of the characteristics that can be considered when analyzing Wtewael and Caliari’s works. It is imperative that observers of art take a deeper look into the different features of artwork in attempt to uncover the intentions of the artist.
What is interesting is that the photograph is not in full color, but in black and white in contrast to the “Blind Beggars” painting, which has vibrant colors. Both Lange and Lawrence's artworks reflect on the theme of poverty and unfortunate circumstances. Lawrence uses organic shapes in this painting.
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
Also, since it’s hard for the viewer to see any emotion the women are feeling in either painting by looking at their faces, the two painters appear to have used colors to create the tone. The feeling of gloom that surrounds the two women on a wharf with the color suggests that they have not found what they have been looking for so their sorrow will last a little longer. The kneeling woman has a brighter background probably depicting that she has found solace or love where she currently kneels. Between the two paintings, the kneeling woman seems to have a brighter looking future ahead of her.
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair was painted in 1878 by Mary Cassatt, an American impressionist. The title tells all; it depicts a young girl sprawled all over a large, cerulean blue armchair. Her legs are spread. Her arm is out. Her one hand rests behind her head. On her stomach lies a plaid blanket. The little girl looks sluggish – immovable – yet still very comfortable. A sleeping puppy sits on the armchair to her right. Two other armchairs are found in separate corners of the room. In this vibrant oil painting, Cassatt rests its beauty not on its subject – the little girl – but on her technique. In doing so, she subverts preconceptions of how the female gaze should take shape in a work of art.
...ause the look of curiosity of the girl extends beyond the frame. This gives the painting a sense of curiosity.
“The Grafin von Scholfeld with her Daughter” is oil on canvas art piece painted in 1793. It is a painting of a woman holding her daughter on her lap, the woman being “The Grafin von Schonfeld.” The woman is dressed in clothing that is from the upper class or a royalty stature in the late 1700’s. The clothing looks rich in material and sleek like silk in the colors of wine and a rich green. She has a covering on her head that looks like an extravagant scarf that drapes over her shoulder on one side, also made of the same silky material used for her dress. The woman has pale skin, reddish brown hair, bluish eyes, and rosy cheeks. Her eyes look very real and penetrating when you examine the painting. The daughter is about the age of 5 or 6 years old. Her arms are around her mother’s neck and legs draped across her mother’s lap. The daughter is wearing a white fluid dress that looks thin in material with a red sash around her midsection. The daughter has the same reddish brown hair and rosy cheeks. The mothers and daughters eyes are equally as big in size, while the child’s eyes seem also very real and youthful.
In an empty room at the Timken Museum of Art hangs one of the most iconic paintings of Johannes Vermeer, the astonishing painting, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. In the painting a pale woman’s stands patiently while reading a letter. The woman appears to be wearing a blue jacket and a long gray skirt, and only gazing at the letter, ignoring all of her surroundings. The top right of the painting seems to be a map of the Netherlands, which attracts the viewer because it explains the setting of where the painting took place. The blue jacket around the woman’s torso appears to exaggerate the woman’s stomach, giving the impression that she might be pregnant. The blue chairs resemble a sign of absence as if she lives alone. The light on the top left shines on her face which enhances the viewer’s view of the woman’s facial expression. Johannes Vermeer’s interpretation of complex colors, the light, and her body language inflicts a persuasion on the viewer that the women is traumatized by the news in the letter.
The gestural and heavy working of the paint and the contrasting colors make the painting appear active yet are arduous to follow. The defining element of Woman and Bicycle is the presence of the black lines that do most of the work in terms of identifying the figure. Through the wild nature of the brushwork, color, and composition of the painting, it can be implied that the artist is making an implication towards the wild nature of even the most proper of women.
When I saw Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring about five years ago at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., I felt something about the painting that I had never felt before when looking at artwork. I felt as if this girl, this young woman in the painting was real, hiding in the museum behind this canvas. She was in the flesh. Her skin was still dewy from three hundred-something years ago, the light across her face still glowing. She was in the round, her eyes followed mine, she was real. She was about to speak, she was in a moment of thought, she was in reflection. This girl was not crimson red or titanium white, she was flesh. Vermeer caught her, a butterfly in his hand. She was not just recorded on canvas, she was created on canvas. She was caught in a moment of stillness. Vermeer creates moments in his paintings. When viewing them, we step into a private, intimate setting, a story. Always, everything is quiet and calm. I realize now it is no wonder I had such a strong reaction to Vermeer the first time I saw him: he is a stillness seeker.
This oil painting is set in the 1800’s according to the author’s time period that he was alive. The context of the painting has the setting take place on a train with three people in the viewer’s perspective: a seated lady
Blindness can be so much more than the state of being unable to see (Dictionary.com). Both the 2008 movie Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles and based on a novel by José Saramago, and the short story The Country of the Blind written by H. G. Wells in 1904, put blindness at the center of the plot. What can blindness mean in our society? And what can blindness mean regarding my future profession in design? In the movie Blindness, to be blind leads to losing all that’s civilized; in H. G. Wells’ The Country of the Blind, blindness can be interpreted as a symbol for ignorance; finally, in graphic design, blindness could be to only focus on the aesthetic part of designing and forgetting the practical aspect of the design.