Jan Steens Wine is a Mocker painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jan Steens Wine is a Mocker painting - Essay Example In addition, the title leads the viewer to identify it in a day to day context. At the same time, the real meaning is still hidden beneath the artist’s individual freedom to mock at the hypocrisy of human beings. Besides, the painting can be evaluated as a torn out page from real life with full of pain and grief. Thesis statement: The elements of design that can be seen in Jane Steen’s painting Wine is a Mocker prove that the work is comical but its theme, appearance, portrayal of life and message proves to be a serious work (special references to the elements of design). Theme The theme is simple because it deals with the human attempt to escape from problems in day to day life. Some people consider that consumption of alcohol is helpful to have temporary escape from the real world. But the escape is momentary and the real world is still there. In the painting, one can see a drunken lady and four children trying to help her. One of the most important elements of design made use by the artist in the painting Wine is a Mocker (see appendix -1) is point. To be specific, the artist provided ample importance to simple elements in the work. For example, the dog in the work is an unimportant element but it symbolizes life in the street. In the work, except the children, no one is ready to help the woman. ... The crafty usage of space helps the viewer to perceive the painting as two dimensional. The appearance of women The appearance of the women in the painting proves that she belongs to the lower strata of the society. This is important because it reveals the artist’s sympathy towards the downtrodden. The texture of the painting is smooth because it is painted in oil on canvas. One can see that the drunken woman’s appearance, especially her dress, reveals her character. One can see that the value (from grey color to black color) of the art work proves that the artist gives ample importance to black color and its different shades like light black and grey. The importance given to black and its shades prove that the artist selected the same to veil the humorous theme and to unveil seriousness. The drunken woman’s dress reveals that she is so conscious about her dressing. If a drunkard is in rugged dress, none will try to laugh at him or her. When a well dressed indivi dual is under the influence of alcohol, all the people will laugh at him or her. The dominating colors in the art work are black, grey, red and white. The combination of these colors binds the different elements of the artist’s craftsmanship to an appealing art work. The drunken woman’s dress and appearance does not help her to escape from the comments of the mass. When one considers the basic principles of design, it is evident that the drunken woman is the focal point of the art work. All the other characters in the background and foreground organizes the two dimensional structure of the art work. Besides, all the other individuals that can be seen in the art work are