The Black Woman In The Painting

Maybe it 's my lack of artistic taste, but even after the realization, I was still unable to arrive at the same interpretation of the woman in the portrait as Weschler.

She explains how this can be done by seeing black females as real valid people and treating them as such. In life we must stop objectifying the black female body before we can see any change within art. By understanding the black female as a legitimate individual with purpose, one can then accurately portray her within art, and create a more subjective authentic representation of the black female body. These beleifs presented by Lorraine O’Grady could be applied to the famous art piece The Moorish Bath, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, in how he depicts the black female body. Instead of having the black female in the background surrounded by darker colors and lighting, while the white female is in the brighter lighting, allow them both to be in the same brighter more focused lighting. Also the role of the black female should be reexamined in that she is serving the white female and bathing her. A more progressive version could be both the females bathing themselves making them both the main subjects, instead of objectifying the black body as one that only serves. Another aspect that should be addressed is the fact that the white female is fully naked while the black

In the context of physical appearance, black woman are only featured with body parts- mainly their “large, rotund behind” (Perry 137). The presentation of the face is mainly limited to white or lighter-complexioned women. The highest idealization of women is one that possesses a “‘high-status’ face combined with a highly sexualized body read by the viewer as the body of a poor or working-class woman” (Perry 137). Perry further substantiates her claim by stating that “women are created or valued by how many fantasy elements have been pieced together in their bodies” (137). She debunks the opposition arguing that the bodies of black women are appreciated by pointing out that only a minority of black women have such attributes, and those without are pressured and struggle to achieve such proportions.

When I first looked at this painting, I thought to myself, "It's boring. It's boring to look at. Why paint a picture of an empty bedroom?" However, once I started looking at all the elements, my mind changed.

I selected this painting because the colour contrast of the pink dress against the dark background caught my eye. I also found the expression of the young woman to be interesting.

One of the aspects I believe unifies this painting is, as I talked about above, the continuation of the blue of the woman’s clothing continuing up into her hair, which gives the piece a sense of wholeness and relativity. There is also balance in this piece, for while the woman’s head is offset, this is balanced out by the elongation of her shoulder and arm in the right side of the image. Variety is also achieved in this piece through the use of a variation of hues and a lot of tonal difference. Emphasis is placed upon the hair with the use of an unnatural hair colour, as well as the face where light colours are used to highlight and pull the attention. Space is not so much of an active principle in this piece, but is still present nonetheless. Beryl is placed in the middle of the painting, with her taking up roughly 50% of the space, and the rest taken up by background.

This subject matter is about one of the most under rated paintings in my opinion of all time painted by a very under rated painter whom is Tim Ashkar, and the painting is no other than Beauty of Color. The artwork is full of different shades of beautiful black women wearing their elegant attire along with exquisite heads dresses and simply luscious pearl necklace along with the ear rings to match. All of them have peaceful and pleasant looks on their faces with their backs straight wearing beautiful array of earth tone colors with eyes to match. It seems like they arrange from young to not so old but all of their faces are very distinctive from one another, so it’s very easy to see who’s who.

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.

The model is drawn because a real life model would be perceived to be fake, air brushed, etc. The colorlessness of the drawing creates the scene of a universal Black woman. Also, the drawn picture doesn’t get into the light/dark color complex. The light/dark color complex is another ideological problem in the Black community. Lighter Blacks (especially women) were perceived to be more attractive, more intelligent, and more acceptable to the White community. Darker skinned Blacks were perceived to be the opposite. This was deposited upon the culture during the slave era. Hair texture also became an issue within the Black community, as lighter, straighter hair was perceived to be nicer, and coarse, thick hair was perceived to be bad, ugly. The afro movement in the 60’s challenged this ideology. In the 60’s, ‘natural hair’ meaning coarse and thick, began to signify intelligence, Black power, and resistance to the majority culture, overall enlightenment. This image was reborn in the late 1990s. Newer options for natural hairstyles and the increasing acceptance of dreadlocks reinitiated a type of ‘anti chemically relaxed hair’ movement. Refusing to put ‘chemicals’ in one’s hair (chemicals referring to those used to straighten one’s hair) meant refusing to cater to the ‘slave mentality’ of light skinned, straight haired beauty. However, the connection between ‘natural hair’ and soulful, enlightened, etc, only works if one’s

Knowing the sex of the artist introduces the preconceived notion of how the artist may view the opposite sex. In this painting, because I know the artist is a male when viewing the subjects of the painting I understand why they are painted in the way they are. His gender influences my

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.

Artists often paint as a way to make money on the side or as an enjoyable activity on a rainy day. However, artists like Kendra Baird use it for a much more powerful purpose. Baird states, ¨Each painting has a personal meaning to me. Sometimes it's obvious; sometimes it's buried within what simple elements represent to me. My subjects can be as simple as a few birds perched on a tree branch, or as complex as a woman losing her identity in the struggles of life.¨ Many of us, throughout our lives, blindly follow those in front of us--never stopping to think about those around or behind us, or experiences that have led us to the point in our lives where we stand now. This painting entitled, “Offering Truth”, by Kendra Baird illustrates the feeling

They are all African American Artist, although they are extremely similar to each other. Each one of them trying to indicate art is art is nothing to do with black and white people. Art is for represented you to the world. It’s all about creating something new to the world. As an African American they created different art from their own culture and won religion. They are very similar to each other because they are all artists of their own thinking such as they use their own idea to create art. The interesting part is that Artist thinks about the American history first and creates a photo or art or video as well. Each one of them is famous African American artist who shared a history, culture, the experience and struggles of their art work.

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