Every Thursday, as part of my personal “enriched environment” initiative, I post a piece of art, usually from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently released online some 400,000 high-resolution images of its collection. All artwork will show a sun (or sunlight) somewhere.
I won’t name the piece or the artist, but instead invite you to study the art and post a comment addressing one or more of these questions:
- What is going on in this picture?
- What do you see in the picture?
- What does it make you think of?
- What observations can you make?
Note: To examine the picture in full size, click on the image.
The paint seems thick and heavy. The sun has the same kind of rays that you’d see in a child’s drawing. The trees are voided of leaves, the bare branches reaching straight up like a child drew them. There are many lines, mostly vertical, except the sun is round and the rays are reaching out in all directions. The sky is a burning yellow sensation. The picture is insanely hysterical, mad, feverish, hard to look at. Too many fireworks exploding too close to me.
My grandson took one look at this and got out the crayons right away, goint to town with the bright oranges, yellos and reds, and some sky blue blues.
I see that this is by Van Gogh. I’m enjoying the vibrant colors and wild design but does this come as a result of his insanity? Should we love it or should we shudder?
The three trees in front have incredibly lifelike detailing. They intrique me. But the row of trees in the back look like a child’s drawing of upraised hands. They’re a let down. Even though the sun and the sky look like they were applied with thick, heavy paint, they also look like they were created out of fabric.
Martians taking a sun bath.