Interpreting Visual Art, Part 1: Using Visual Evidence

The pain shown in the mother’s eyes represents all the Aboriginal families who lost their young ones. Page fifty-five shows an image of the mother literally breaking apart about the fact that she can’t find her child. It is symbolic of the Stolen Generation as the elderly woman said that most children never returned home and families were left broken apart. The black background symbolises how empty the mother is without her child and the darkness that is

When initially looking at the iconic black and white photo, one sees a woman and two children. After closely examining the image, one sees the third child, an infant, being held by the woman.The woman is not looking directly at the camera, but the audience is able to see her gaze. The woman’s eyebrows are furrowed causing her face to appear as worried with a look of desperation. Looking more meticulously at the woman, one will notice that she has a slight frown. The woman is able to show her stress by using her right hand to pull down slightly on her face. Aside from the woman, there are three children in the photograph. Two of the children are facing away from the camera with their heads rested on the woman’s shoulder. The third child is an infant who seems to be sleeping while this photograph was taken. The woman and children in the photo are migrants that are trying to survive the Great Depression and

This piece of art is supposed to be an interpretation of the Greek myth of Atlas. In this myth Atlas has to hold the world on his shoulders and in this drawing the young girl representing child labour is shown holding the world to support the greedy businessmen. It is believed to have been drawn by Lewis Wicks Hine. He worked as a photographer and was strongly against child labour. As a result of his focus, this drawing was probably made to show how unfair child labor was. Even though this was created in the early 20th century in America it reflects the same dynamic that was going on during the Victorian era. It has the same ideas that children made up most of the work force during the Industrial Revolution yet they were not fully compensated.

His frustration is visible in the expression on his face. He appears tired of her bothering him about it, hence the hand. The child is showing a lot of white which can represent faith, I think the artist did this to say that the baby is giving the family faith because they are trying to provide for their child and in order to do that they need to be able to put food on the table which won’t just only help the baby but them as a whole. The woman may also symbolize strength that’s why the artist made her dress and lipstick red; she’s fiery. She may help the husband maintain his sanity no matter how many problems they are going through as a family.

The viewer can see and feel the bond between the mother and the child. I also think the artwork is beautiful and makes a deep impression on the viewer, because of the innocence and peaceful appearance of the infant. The woman has such an intense gaze with the way she is looking at the infant; it gives each viewer an opportunity to interpret it in their own way, concern or admiration, all part of motherhood. The woman’s body language is intriguing because she is replicating the infant’s arm position, maybe to find her own peace. In my search, I discovered that Berthe Morisot was a famous female artist in the 19th century, and in making a choice, this piece of art quickly caught my

Many artists use facial expressions in their figures to enhance the techniques used. The combination of the woman’s worrisome expression with the slightly distressed one of the baby helps reinforce the mood the use of color has already established. Because of this combination, the title Susan Comforting the Baby is clearly reflected in the work.

The historical context this photograph references goes back to the way slave women had to take care of their children. Dorothy Roberts in Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty explains how slave mothers of newborns did not have the privilege we have today of a maternity leave. They had to go back to work on the fields shortly after giving birth, and the humans they created did not belong to them under the law. Those children were indeed property of the slaveowner. Even though these newborn babies had economic value to the slave owners, their race did not permit a nutritious or interactive lifestyle, which left many of them to die. Roberts explains how their mothers dug a trough that was used as a nursery to keep their children close to them while they worked. However, when it would rain and these through would fill up, these mothers could not attend to their child and potentially save their lives. Consequently, many children drowned in these holes due to child neglect and abandonment driven by the lack of sympathy from the slaveowners that could have permitted the mothers of these children to save their own. Roberts states, “No one recorded the horror their mothers must have felt upon discovering their precious babies floating lifeless in their makeshift cradle” (37). Angel’s depiction of two colored girls lying in a hole

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

Another attracting feature of this painting is that it appeals to your emotional side. Personally, I have an elder sister and we share a connection that is really rare. I have a picture of her, holding me as a baby with a huge smile on her face and this painting ultimately reminds me of that; giving me nothing but pleasant memories. That is what William is trying to do here. He uses the soothing and caring facial expression of the young lady together with the tenderness of the sleeping baby to capture his viewers and appeal to their caring and emotional side.

This sculpture is of a women breast feeding her child. The face of the two people is elongated, as well as the breasts of the mother. This is common to all African Art because they wanted representation of what is being expressed. In this particular sculpture, a supernatural power is being called upon. The power has been asked to protect the mother and child, and to

Although her eyes are closed, one can imply that she is looking at her dead baby. There is a baby skull underneath her, I know it’s a baby skull for a few reasons, the first being that the baby’s skull is emerging straight from the woman’s abdomen, the skull is also smaller compared with an older person’s skull. The skull appears to be in some sort of pink baby carrier, which can symbolize that this baby would have been a girl. The woman’s right arm is risen and bent, with her palms faced away from her face and her fingers bent. This movement is similar to a praying gesture; the women can be praying and mourning for the life of her unborn child as well as praying for herself through this difficult time. Her naked breasts are visible to the

The internal conflicts established in “The Necklace” were a result of Madame Loisels perception of happiness. Because of her ungrateful and dejected views on life, she didn’t realize nor recognize true merriment. In the text, Guy De Maupassant shows how Madame “..was one of those pretty and charming girls born as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of

Women are fertile brings, they were made in this world with the gift to reproduce but in societies like China and India this gift has been from the mothers who have female children. Hope II has illustrated the feelings of a mother losing her child by using symbolic depictions of death. Through the use of colors, the painting has given optimism and faith to the mothers and to women everywhere who live in fear and that this evil behavior will hopefully be demolished in the future. By composing all the figures into the decorative robe in the center, the painting has given the viewers a sense of harmony and attachment within the women in this society, their experience become similar and they become one. In a world filled with hate, these women

Throughout history, artists have depicted the intimate and domestic scenes of maternal love in various styles that reflected upon the historical, political, religious and artistic progression of the time period. The Mother with Children (?), depicting the grace and power of a matriarch that corresponds with the idealized view of the mother within early African society; Eleonora di Toledo with her son Giovanni, a piece that emphasizes upon the importance of fertility and the ideal wife within 15th century Florentine society; and The Mother and Sister of the Artist, picturing the domestic and sheltered life of women expected of mothers within the Impressionist period. Though from different times, all of these works reflect upon the the views

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