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 that makes you say that?
- What more can you find?
If you have another idea, run with it.
Note: To embiggen the image, click on it!
I see this and I have a question. As it is the end of the summer, did you post this picture because finally the sun is off to the right of the painting, not the left as it usually is?
What is dramatic about this painting is the big dark cloud shadow that covers the painting’s center. It’s unusual to me to make a shadow the focal point. Too, it seems to be connected to the dark green bush on the hillock on this side of the river. It’s like darkness begetting darkness.
And when I enlarge the picture, what do I see? Hairline cracks all over the painting’s surface.
That’s not the shadow of a cloud in the center of the picture. It’s the shadow of little Tom Thumb’s older sister, Mary Giantess. She’s approaching the town across the bay and is going to step on and demolish and destroy all those factories that are polluting the air. The very air that she breathes. Look at how the clouds are drawing up and backing away, in fear. Look at how the little tug boat is churning its escape and the steam coming out of the smoke stack says, “Not me, lady, not me!” It’s going to be death and destruction everywhere in a matter of minutes.