Art Appreciation
Art is the combination of various components to bring out a particular distinctive outcome. Renowned artists master the art of combining different components to come up with a specific masterpiece. Art traces back in the evolutionary era where man used to make a representation of animals on cave walls inform of paintings. It is even said that art was the first means of communication during the same period. Over the years, a lot of exemplary and precious artworks have been created by the various talented artists, including the legendary portrait of Mona Lisa. The formal analysis includes an analysis of the main elements constituting a particular artwork. This paper aims to conduct a formal analysis of ‘the sleepy baby’ by Marry Cassatt, a painting in the Dallas Museum of Art.
Art Elements
Line
Since the artwork under analysis is a painting, there is no specific outlines that define shapes or forms. The artist used combination of colors to come up with the piece. However, there are nearly visible lines on the background of that run diagonally. Also, the cloth that the mother is wearing has two thick lines that bring out its design. The artist used the background lines to emphasize the presence of a wall. Some of these lines are visible others are barely visible. The painting is of a mother holding an infant who’s naked. It represents the role of a mother in being the first caregiver of any infant (Lathrop, 2018).
Light
The source of light in the painting is implied even though it is not visible. The painting reflects presence of light. It is not certain whether the light is natural or artificial. There are some shadows that the artist included in the painting. For starters, there is variation in terms of shade. There are some areas which are darker than others in the painting. Also, there are areas that are highlighted for instance the face and arms of both the mother and the infant. The seat is set to be in shadow form and the combination of the highlights and the shadows bring out the beautiful lighting the picture possesses.
Color
The dominant colors in the painting are cream with a light shade of red, brown and gold. There is also some dark color and a little shade of beige in the background. The dominant bright colors are used on the mother and infant while the darker less dominant ones are used on the background. The combination brings out the effect of a white woman holding an infant. It also creates a peaceful and relaxed mood. That is further ascertained by the fact that the infant seems to be asleep. The colors brown, red and cream complement each other and so is color beige and black. The represented colors bring out a warm effect. The artists skillfully positioned the colors to create the impression of deep connection with the characters in the painting.
Texture
The texture of the artwork is a mixture of smooth and rough surfaces. The background of the painting brings out a rough touchy feel while the infant and the mother’s skin have a smooth feel. There are no signs of impasto in the structure of the paintings. Marry Cassatt performed the coloration with medium concentration. The overall texture of the painting is smooth with a mixture of rough surfaces. The texture follows a given pattern making the painting an unique masterpiece. In order for one to get detailed understanding of the texture of the painting, it is important for them to relate to the artist’s purpose and appropriateness of the artwork (Carroll, 2016). Through this knowledge, comprehension of the texture composition will be made easier.
Shape
There are prevailing shapes in the painting that can be identified. The painting is of human beings and therefore the only forms represented are that of a human being. The woman adopts a square shape excluding the neck and the head. The figure brings out a beautiful representation of the mother. The square shape of the mother’s trunk relates to the chair she is sited on and the two bring out a complementing effect. The two are located on the middle ground and background and the artist placed them there to give the painting an absolute shape and form.
Space
The form created by the shapes has spaces especially on the sides. The woman holding the infant does not fully occupy the space provided by the chair. The woman is sited in a particular position to facilitate the posture of the baby. Cassatt uses foreshortening of figures and layering of figures to bring out how space is utilized in the painting. The two figures however mange to fill the larger part of the space provided by the paining and this adequately assures their dominance.
Art Principles
Scale and Proportion
Scale and proportion form one of the major principles of artwork. Every artwork adopts a certain shape and it’s subjected to have a specific size (Barry, 2020). The size of the painting in our case is moderate. It is neither too large nor too small. Its size makes it easy for human interaction. It gives people the opportunity to have close observations and conduct in-depth analysis of its structure, form and layout. There is lack of proportionality in the painting. There are no forms of the same size. The artist intended to bring out the aspect of difference in age and roles. In other words, the artist uses hierarchical scale in the composition of the forms in the painting.
Balance
The painting is a representation of a woman holding a sleeping baby while sitting on a chair. It is made of various colors and the most prominent ones are concentrated on the woman and the infant. Therefore, in all factors considered the painting can be said to lack balance in terms of lifting, shadows, color range and lines. Balance in this case can therefore be said to be asymmetrical. The lines and colors are not evenly represented throughout the painting. They are only represented on parts of the painting.
Rhythm
The aspect of rhythm is the least represented feature in the painting. The artist did not concentrate in achieving this principle. However, the cloth the woman is wearing seems to have repetitive shapes and design. The coloring is also repetitive and this brings about the decorative factor of the cloth. It does not in any way imply tension or intensity. The rhythm generated by the cloth design brings out unity and cohesion in the structure of the painting.
Emphasis
The main emphasis of the painting is the woman and the sleeping baby. Since the painting has a simple layout, these are the only observable features of the artwork. The artist does not make an effort of creating tension or multiple interests. She rather focused on creating a focal point where only the woman and the child were the main forms to be seen. The psychological aspect that creates interest is the fact that the infant is naked and asleep. Everything else is blunt and normal all factors considered.
Conclusion
There are a lot of principles and aspects of art that enable artists to come up with authentic and one of a kind paintings, sculptures or drawings. The artwork analyzed in our case is ‘the sleepy baby’ by Mary Cassatt which is found in the Dallas Art Museum and involves a woman holding a naked sleeping infant. Its features have been discussed in details and every aspect of art has been represented. In general, the piece is a simple and authentic one that represents the love and connection between the mother and her small one.
References
Barry, M. P. (2020). Lesson 02: Elements and Principles.
Carroll, N. (2016). Art appreciation. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 50(4), 1-14.
Lathrop, C. (2018). Mary Cassatt and 19th Century Mother.