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Summary Of Dorothea Tanning's Painting Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

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The composition I chose was Dorothea Tanning’s painting Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. This painting depicts two girls alone in the hallway of a rundown hotel, playing with the larger than life sunflower which lays in the middle of the hallway, reaching which the stairwell. What intrigued me first about this painting was its use of color. The color scheme that Tanning employs is complimentary. As we know, a complementary color scheme means that two colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel are primarily used. In this case, the complementary colors represented in the painting are red and green. Tanning shows a rich, blood-red color in the carpeting as well as on the shirt of the girl leaning against the frame of on of the doors. Those deep reds complement the ivy green color of the hallway walls, the leaves on the large sunflower, and the vines from the flower as well. Another aspect of color in the painting that pulled me in was the balance of color temperature that is featured. There are many warm colors featured in this painting which makes the slight pop of cool colors stand out against each other. Of course, the warm colors Tanning uses in this painting are the deep reds in the carpeting and shirt, the dark brown of the doors, and the wooden stair flooring that run down the hall, as well as the eerie yellows featured in the sunflower and mysterious lighting leaking out into the hall from a slightly cracked door. Meanwhile, the warm colors are met with the cool whites in the young girls’ dresses and skirts. Plus, the frigid greens popping out from the walls along with the enormous vines and leaves. The greens stand out against the sunny yellows in the flower and three petals that have fallen from the sunflower, coupled with the deep warm reds that line the floor.
Additionally, Tanning uses value in this painting to take each component and make it more lifelike and visually appealing. This is especially notable when looking at the sunflower and the girls. When focusing on the flower, the petals which stand the highest have a much brighter yellow to them when compared to the lower petals. This is because the lower petals do not stand in the light, which causes them to appear darker in

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