A Girl Asleep Analysis

This painting is a portrait of an old woman who is sitting on a chair while facing to the left. She is wearing a yellow flower dress with a beige jacket while sitting in an empty room. Her beauty is illustrated by her curly, gray hair and also her wrinkled face, neck, and hands. These details is what makes her look real and pure. I like how detailed it is because it reminds me of my grandmothers.

The painting Udney Maria Blakeley (1830), by Thomas Sully, was the first painting that came to mind when assigned the project: the painting has fascinated me both as a child and an adult due to the beauty of both the woman in the painting, but also from my deeper understanding of art now. Thomas Sully used the wet medium of oil on canvas, and included the woman in the foreground of the painting holding a rose in a vase in her right hand. There is a deep contrast between the women dressed in a white gown, and the darker background of the painting. Due to the highlighting along the left side of her face, and the shadowing on the right, it can be assumed that she is facing, or even looking straight at the

The painting depicts a young woman in a pink dress sitting down. The background is very dark but three things can be made out by the viewer. Starting with the ground plane of the painting, an orange carpet can be seen covering the entire floor. It is patterned and contains yellows, greens and blues. The cool toned colours are darker in hue than the warm toned. Secondly, there appears to be a cabinet or a desk lining the wall behind her. The wood of the cabinetry is carved with detailed designs and is made of a dark stained wood. Despite the dark background a single red rose can be seen on top of the cabinetry. The rose looks freshly picked and shows no signs of withering in its petals. It is painted in a muted red colour that allows it to stand out on

In a girl with the pearl earring the protagonist, Griet, is sent to be a maid the artist Johannes Vermeer and his growing family. In this household she becomes close to Vermeer’s work, and eventually the secretive painting of Griet seeps out into the rest of the family and the town beyond.

You also notice that her clothing and hair are of light color, and she is very detailed. After studying the complex painting closely, you find that the focus of the painting is the Princess.

The woman painted is sitting in what seems to be a domestic setting. However, unlike many other painted black women in the Enlightenment, she is seated alone. She is not depicted serving a white woman or doing any labour. The white cloths wrapped around her head and body along with the light background creates a dramatic contrast between the light colours and her dark skin. Her breast is exposed, but she is not sexualized like in many paintings of white women of the period. Despite her less-than-modest exposure, the woman does not show any signs of embarrassment. She is not blushing and her gaze is fixed on the viewer in neither a demure nor passionate way. In fact, she seems nonchalant about her exposure.

In the book by Timothy Brook, Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, the author analysis several paintings of the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. In these several paintings, Vermeer, beautifully depicts scenes from daily life. His paintings are from the Dutch Golden Age and are incredibly realistic and the way he shows light and color are strikingly gorgeous. Although Vermeer’s painting skills are developed the subject of his paintings illustrate quite simple subjects, showing middle class daily life and tasks. However, Brooks takes readers past the beautiful colors we see on the surface and digs a little deeper into each one, going in and unraveling the scene to analysis things like globalization and world trade in the 1600s.

The artwork is a realistic portrait of a women. It is abstracted with asymmetrical balance with exotic and vibrant colors. As if the women is sitting in the corner with two

She is wearing a tight uniform with ornaments in the chest area. Her facial expression is very well-defined and concise considering it is made out of paper scraps of pink shades. Her gaze looks exhausted, bored and indifferent. Her body is very well shaped, just like the original painting, and it has different shades of blue, black and a bit of white textures such as feathers, gradients, and graphics. From a distance it is easy to identify people interacting with each other and having fun.

Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.

The background has areas of dark and light that may be representing a dark part of this woman's life and the light area showing awakening in this woman's soul. To me the woman in the painting is staring out into the world and realizing that there is so much out there for her. That she can walk out of there and not be lost any more. Mrs. Mallard felt the same way. In the room she realized that she can now live her life on her own the way she wants to. She walked out of the room with a sense of

On the floor, we also see a bright pink, bristled brush, that she presumably had used earlier to style her hair into an impressive updo, as well as several tubes of lipstick and other cosmetics spread across the floor. These symbolize her trying to grow up by trying to make herself look like a reputable woman, who seems to have been successful in “growing up”. The setting of the painting seems to be within her attic, a place where she can hide from judgement. I believe that she was feeling the same way that I was on my first day of middle school: anxious and distressed. She wants to grow up, but doesn’t want to stop being Mommy & Daddy’s “little girl”.

She goes to work in Vermeer’s house as a maid where she is harshly treated by one of the painter’s children. Griet is given duties that include cleaning her master’s studio, one which Vermeer’s wife does not go into. It is also where the two get close as he starts teaching her the basics of painting. Vermeer shows her how to appreciate the art of lighting and combination of colors. One of his friends sees Griet and is interested in taking her with him to which Vermeer refuses due to an earlier case of a girl ruined by Van, the man in question.

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

The little girl’s dress gives the texture of lightness and seems like airy fabric that would be thin and translucent. The time in this piece is very accurate of the late 1700’s and when viewing it, the time seems classic. The emphasis of this piece is mainly the mother and the daughter, however when looking at them you are drawn into looking at their realistic eyes. The eyes seem like the focal point which draws the viewer in to the picture.