The artwork I chose for the art criticism project was ‘The Survivors’ by Kathe Kollwitz. The piece was created in 1923 in Berlin, Germany, where she resided with her husband. She and her husband resided in a poorer area, and it is believed to have contributed too much of her artwork style. ‘The Survivors’ is currently displayed in two museums, the MoMA and the Kathe Kollwitz Museum. Nevertheless, the piece is enjoyable to me, as I feel it conveys an extremely important message. The darkness and the hollowness of the piece grab the attention of one’s eye immediately, begging you to form an opinion as to why Kollwitz painted it. The first element I will describe, is the way Kollwitz centered main object of her painting. In the piece, there
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The absence of color captures the deep emotion of the figures in such a compelling way. More so, Kollwitz creates an extreme contrast from the men looming in the background and from the children surrounding her by adding negative space. This element could allow for the painting to be critiqued since it does not allow for viewers to have an idea, through color, of who the people in the painting may represent. Conversely, the lack of color could be argued that viewers should not be trying to tie the painting to a specific person, but rather something that may have occurred in their lifetime. Personally, the absence of color and the use of negative space allows for one to experience the raw emotion of each face. Depicting, that at this time, there is not happiness which could be represented by color but hollowness through dark …show more content…
Texture is used to create the faces and add to the form of the people in the painting, also she uses value to highlight special focus areas like the sunken portions of the woman’s face. It was done in charcoal so there are areas where there are heavy grazes, making the people not look perfect. The texture, lines, value, and the absence of color all form to create a sense of unity. It allows for the artwork to flow well together. More so, it invokes unity among the people surrounding the main woman. Through this important woman, each person in the painting is not only tied to her but to each other. If a critique were to look at this piece, it would be impossible to miss the texture and value the artist used. Consequently, some may consider the painting to be too dark not allowing for viewers to grasp the true beauty of what Kollwitz has
The absence of color captures the deep emotion of the figures in such a compelling way. More so, Kollwitz creates an extreme contrast from the men looming in the background and from the children surrounding her by adding negative space. This element could allow for the painting to be critiqued since it does not allow for viewers to have an idea, through color, of who the people in the painting may represent. Conversely, the lack of color could be argued that viewers should not be trying to tie the painting to a specific person, but rather something that may have occurred in their lifetime. Personally, the absence of color and the use of negative space allows for one to experience the raw emotion of each face. Depicting, that at this time, there is not happiness which could be represented by color but hollowness through dark …show more content…
Texture is used to create the faces and add to the form of the people in the painting, also she uses value to highlight special focus areas like the sunken portions of the woman’s face. It was done in charcoal so there are areas where there are heavy grazes, making the people not look perfect. The texture, lines, value, and the absence of color all form to create a sense of unity. It allows for the artwork to flow well together. More so, it invokes unity among the people surrounding the main woman. Through this important woman, each person in the painting is not only tied to her but to each other. If a critique were to look at this piece, it would be impossible to miss the texture and value the artist used. Consequently, some may consider the painting to be too dark not allowing for viewers to grasp the true beauty of what Kollwitz has