Appreciation of Michael Sweerts' ‘Head of a Woman’

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.

However, the desert scene and mountains suggest that this was painted in Southern California. In the background, one can see a man leading a pack animal, a woman, and an infant along a road towards the church, identified by the cross on the rooftop. There are no shadows to define form in the background. This is, again, a contrast to the shadows made by the Madonna in the foreground. The lack of shadows, however, does not make the background look flat. The Impressionist styled painting and the lack of detail in the background creates a distant look that gives depth to the painting. The numerous contrasts between the background and the foreground allows the artist to subtly draw the viewer?fs attention towards the foreground. These contrasts help grab the viewer?fs gaze and direct it to the most important part of the painting: the woman and baby.

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.

This painting is much more sensual than Giorgione’s painting due to Titian’s because he engages the woman with the audience by making her look straightforwardly at the audience and his use of chiaroscuro (Grabski, Józef).

The woman portrayed in the painting is the famous movie star Marilyn Monroe. The photograph that Warhol used for this piece is a publicity still from the 1953 movie Niagra.(Museum of Modern Art) Marilyn Monroe has always been known, and always will be known as our nations most famous sex symbol. Her personal life was even more interesting and exciting to the public than her films. She was married several times, and the mysterious events surrounding her death were rumored to be the result of an affair with President John F. Kennedy. Warhol chose the year of Monroe's death, declared a suicide, to create this piece. Her troubled personal life and untimely death only made Warhol's painting more powerful. He displays Monroe at her best. She is young and beautiful with styled hair and a made up face-yet inside she was empty. By glorifying her, Warhol shows her vulnerability. She was an icon to millions, yet the constant demands from fans and the media drove her into the downward spiral which ultimately ended her life.

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

In the painting, ‘Virgin and Child’, by Rogier van der Weyden, it can be observed that the artist chose to use the medium of oil on wood. Despite the fact that Rogier van der Weyden created this painting in the Netherlands and was born in Tournai, Belgium, their primary influence appeared to stem from the Italian Renaissance, which had begun to use the technique of oil paintings with increasing frequency by turn of the 15th century. The subject of the painting itself, Madonna and her virgin child, were a common theme in the Renaissance, where religious subjects and topics were the primary choice for any prominent artist during this historical artistic period.

It was determined that the women in the portrait was most likely a freeborn, upper-middle class citizen of Rome. The portrait seems to have been a part of a funerary monument, a conclusion which was drawn due to the pattern of cleavage observed at the back of her head and the sides of her face. It was also observed that there was a

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

The art and beauty in this painting is exemplified through the eyes of Boucher. It starts with a beautiful couple taking a rest after picking up some followers. Their clothing looks very elegant and colorful which shows that they are aristocrats. The man’s eyes are gazing at a shepherdess who gathered her own flowers. Their eyes are locked despite the man having his own woman right in front of him. The light brushstrokes of the dresses, flowers, and trees

painting which also ties into the scene being set at night in the darkness. Contrast is used well to

This picture was chosen for its background. The background adds detail so that the onlooker can create an idea of who this person might be. While the subject is still the main focus of the portrait the background is just as important as the subject because it suggests a culture that the viewer can make inferences about.

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

To begin, the proportion of the woman’s gaze accentuates perfection. The eyes introduces a sense of nobility to the piece acquiring a softness at the gaze. Painted with a spherical shape, it allows the appearance to emerge mysteriously throughout the portrait and I quote “Through their roundness, therefore, the mind, knowing itself, is sometimes forced to reveal the secrets thoughts of their