The Best Things
Recently, there has been a television commercial that has the saying “there are some things money can’t buy.” The story “The Practical Heart” by Allan Gurganus could be used for this ad. It is about a wealthy family who is forced into poverty when they visit America. Her family heritage, the way in which she gets the painting, and the painting itself are all factors in Muriel restoring her family dignity.
Muriel’s family heritage is a factor because without it dignity is not there to be restored. They lived on a seven-acre compound called “Sunnyside.” Sunnyside had a big stone house and an orchard. The father was a writer and Professor who had published four books. He was educated by tutors at his home. He was skilled in Greek and Latin and could recite three-day's worth of poetry. Muriel, the eldest daughter, was a child prodigy on the piano and had received excellent notices. All of this is a reason for Muriel to have the portrait done. Her family is now living in poverty and is looked down upon by people who should be looking up. By having the portrait done, the dignity the family once had can be restored. “He saved you, and, with you, redeemed your clan’s tarnished dignity”(39). Muriel sees that Sargent can capture the truth in his paintings and believes that he will be able to capture the true beauty inside her.
The way in which Muriel goes about getting the painting is also a factor because it is the only way to achieve her goal. Muriel saves and sacrifices for years in order to have the means to visit Sargent. When she is finally able to go, she knows that she must conduct herself in a manner that gives respect to the great artist. “Knowing they would need the added respectability its notepaper afforded”(47), she stays in the village’s best hotel. She tours churches to give the appearance of not travelling all the way only for the painting. She wears her best clothes and converses with Sargent knowingly. She plays the part of someone who is worthy of being painted by the great one. Had Muriel not gone about it in the manner she did, the painting would never have came to be.
Additionally, the painting shows that these colonists are literally building their society. For example, in the background, there are two buildings under construction and there is a man delivering bricks to the workers. This shows that these colonists are willing to work hard to build their community. This also shows that they are willing to go far away to get bricks. In conclusion the
She shows the true culture of her family’s life and how they act. Artistically, this frame includes lots of detail and is realistic. Behind the doors and windows is a blank, only shaded area. The conversation between the two sides shows the ignorance of her parents. While the child looks angry and seems to have looked everywhere (with the draws being opened already). This shows that the family does have transparency and doesn’t constantly cover-up the truth.
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.
Corresponding to Interior with Two People, Degas’ family portrait, The Belleli Family, of his aunt Laura and her family is a painting about “the contradictions riddling the general idea of the high bourgeois family in the middle of the nineteenth century.” 6,7 The painting is considered a representation of “The ...
The painting is a large painting it is almost five feet tall and four feet wide. It is an oil painting on traditional canvass. The color choice is very dark and gloomy. It serves the purpose of putting the viewer in a somber mood. From the first glance you can tell that this is a sad setting. To some viewers Ida might bring a feeling of disgust, however, after closer inspection of the painting, the inner beauty seeps out. The black backdrop works to bring Ida out to the viewer. The fact that Albright was able to take a young and pretty model, transform her into an almost “Walking Dead” type creation from his own mind, shows that Albright had a very creative mind. The patterns of the carpet, along with a tear in the fabric beneath the chair she sits on give the carpet a life of its own, distinct, yet worn from time and abuse, much like Ida herself. The texture of the vanity behind her is duller. He gives no real definition to the outline of the lower drawers, there was nothing in there of any significance, but it works as a great background for Ida's leg.
The significant difference is two individuals in the portrait are males. On the other hand, it is rarely to see the portrait of father and son appearing in the same frame throughout the history of western art. In most of the portraits, fathers are serious and alone. In the 19th century France, women are concerned with the realms of their activities, men are free to go anywhere they want in the whole day. Based on Garb’s description, the theater is the few places women are able to go for entertainment. For the rest of their time, they have to stay in the private sphere because of conventional ideology. For the males in the patriarchal society, they are eager to exemplify their ambitions and masculinity in the public spaces. From their point of view, home is the assigned setting for women. Wives and children, sometimes, are equal to the tools of manifesting their power and social status.
The young girl sprawls on comfortably as a way of the illustrating her rebellion, as this is not the appropriate position to have one’s portrait taken. Also, the girl seems to be from a well of family since her dress is a fashion-forward, her shawl and bow matches with her socks. Her hair is neatly placed in clean and neat shoes that that seems to be new as they have buckles that sparkle. Conversely, the little girl has insignificant concern for all this primness where her unselfconscious pose presents a novel image regarding childhood (Jones
In “The Photograph”, Enrique Amorim, writes about the tale regarding Madame Dupont, a woman who wants to show her mother that she is doing well in life. As a result, Madame Dupont decides that the best way to represent the life that her mother hoped that Madame had was by hiring a photographer to take her picture. She tells the photographer, “I want a portrait to send to my mother. It must give the impression that it was taken in a real house. My own house” (202). The wording in this quote alone, gives a sense of loneliness as she uses the word “impression”. Thus, it can be inferred that Madame Dupont does not possess adequate living quarters that would allow her mother to feel at ease. The photographer appears to be familiar with this type
Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity. Los Angeles: University of California P.
In this story, Mrs. Hopewell constantly criticizes the way her daughter looks and acts. Even to her, Joy is not beautiful. For example, O'Connor states that, "Mrs. Hopewell said that people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not" (133). Mrs. Hopewell says this in reference to her daughter's poor attitude. She believes that even though her daughter is not pretty, Joy can compensate for her ugliness in the ways that she interacts with others. However, even Joy's mannerisms prove unsatisfactory to her mother. Mrs. Hopewell thinks that her daughter is rude. Consequently, she feels obligated to offset Joy's poor behavior by being extra hospitable and courteous to visitors. Also, Mrs. Hopewell refuses to take any pride in her daughter, even though Joy has become an extremely accomplished woman by going to college and earning a degree in psychology. As a result, the relationship between Joy and her mother beco...
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
When Miss Brill is sitting in the park observing passers-by, she notes “two young girls in red” who were met by “two young soldiers in blue … and they laughed and paired and went off arm-in-arm” (Mansfield 176). And later Miss Brill sees “a beautiful woman [come] along and [drop] her bunch of violets” (Mansfield 177). Miss Brill admires the beauty of these young people with their bright and vivid colors. To her the vivid colors represent life, passion, beauty, and happiness, all fulfilling elements that she believes she lacks. Later when she is studying herself she realizes that now in her older age “her hair, her face, even her eyes, [were] the same color as the shabby ermine, and her hand, in its cleaned glove, lifted to dab her lips, was a tiny yellowish paw” (Mansfield 177). All the colors that she notices in herself are dim and muted, communicating to the audience that Miss Brill feels her life much reduced from the brilliant excitement and color that it had once been. When observing the young people she sees red, which is commonly symbolizes passion and love; blue, which is frequently associated with innocence, youth, order, and serenity; and purple, which conveys richness, vibrancy, and royalty. In contrast the only colors Miss Brill mentions when critiquing herself are a muted brown and a yellowish color. The brown represents the confusion that is
When people think of the American Dream, they usually picture a wealthy family who lives in a big house with a white picket fence. They see the husband being the breadwinner for the wife and kids, by supporting and providing the best way that he can. They also picture the wife catering to her husband 's every need. The protagonist Janie Crawford lives this American Dream but soon comes to a realization that this life isn’t her destiny. Crawford learns that love does not involve money but rather being joyful. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie breaks the American Dream myth by living a non-traditional life through belief, happiness, and freedom.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
The movie, “Mona Lisa Smile” is an inspirational film that explores life through feminism, marriage, and education lead by a modernist teacher at the end of a traditional era. It begins by introducing the lead character, Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts), a liberal-minded novice professor from California, who lands a job in the art history department at a snobbish, all-girl college, called Wellesley, in the fall of 1953. Despite warnings from her boyfriend Paul that a Boston Brahmin environment was out of her element, Katherine was thrilled at the prospect of educating some of the brightest young women in the country however, her image of Wellesley quickly fizzles after her first day of class, in which, was more like a baptism by fire. Her smug students flaunted their exhaustive knowledge of the text and humiliated her in front of a supervisor. However, Katherine, determined not to buckle under pressure, departs from the syllabus in order to regain the upper hand. She quickly challenged the girls’ idea of what constituted art and exposed them to modern artist not endorsed by the school board. She dared them to think for themselves, and explore outside of their traditional views. This form of art was unacceptable by the students at first however, overtime Katherine penetrated her student’s distain and earned their esteem.