Family Tree by Edith Rimmington (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
Family Tree
Source: Art UK
While many people associate the Surrealist movement with the likes of Salvador Dalí, the truth is that this artistic movement is much broader and more interesting than the work of the few Surrealist artists who are often featured on museum walls.

For example, the art of British artist Edith Rimmington has largely been forgotten by the world of art history. Rimmington was a writer, painter, and photographer who became involved in the British Surrealist movement early on. I first encountered her work while researching her fellow female Surrealist Marion Elizabeth Adnams, and I was immediately drawn to her piece Family Tree.

Family Tree is actually an amalgamation of photograph and paint, but, for the purposes of this post, I’m just going to call it a painting. The image depicts a long, metal chain—the sort of thing that might commonly be used in shipyards—laying on a wooden dock that stretches endlessly into the horizon, while a black and white snake slithers over the links of the chain. Black water laps at each side of the dock.

To me, Family Tree is reminiscent of the eponymous chain that “keeps us together” from Fleetwood Mac’s hit song “The Chain.” I see the subject of Family Tree as the endless line of blood that links each generation to the next. Unlike the traditional family tree, this chain stretches endlessly in both directions, playing with the ideas of time and descent.

While I read this image to be one of tremendous strength, there is also something ominous about it. The snake, the black water, and the halo-shaped moon combine to imply something dark and frightening. Perhaps, it represents the dark side of family, a constraint that ties unwilling and unhappy individuals together. Rimmington was interested in the idea of metamorphosis, and it is easy to see how that idea could apply to family, turning blood into a blessing or a curse as the need demands.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges by Henri Matisse (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
Image
Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges Source: Pinterest French artist Henri Matisse is rather famous for his paintings of goldfish. In fact, one of his most famous paintings, entitled Goldfish , depicts several of the aforementioned fish swimming in a bowl. Matisse is one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. His work is closely associated with the Fauvist movement and is generally characterized by great energy and rich, intense colors. Based on my research , Matisse began painting goldfish after he traveled to North Africa. In Morocco, Matisse observed locals watching goldfish swim in their bowls as they sunk into a meditative state. The fish subsequently became a symbol for this sense of tranquility, coming to represent an idyllic version of the world only accessible through joyous day-dreams. These calming fish are prominent in this painting, which is entitled Le Chat Aux Poissons Rouges (which translates to The Cat With Red Fishes ). However, the serene energy of the fish
Read more

Five Puerto Rican Artists You Should Know

-
Image
The island of Puerto Rico has a long and vibrant artistic tradition. Western, Indigenous, and African cultures have all left their mark on Puerto Rican art, creating a colorful and unique visual legacy. While Puerto Rican artists have demonstrated their excellence throughout the years— from the creators of the captivating Taino petroglyphs to the sophisticated and subtle works of the Modernist painters—Puerto Rican art has received little attention from art historians and the wider art world. Here are five underappreciated Puerto Rican artists that you should know: 1. José Campeche José Campeche is often known as the first Puerto Rican painter in the Western history of fine arts. He was primarily known for his religious paintings and his portraits of elite Puerto Ricans, and today his work is recognized as some of the finest examples of Rococo art produced in the Americas. Campeche’s personal story is also inspiring. The son of a slave who had purchased his own freedom, Campech
Read more

Mural La Plena by Rafael Tufiño (Interpretation and Analysis)

-
Image
Mural la Plena Source: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico Today I want to chat about a monumental piece of art that I recently had the pleasure of seeing at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. As the name suggests, Mural La Plena is a massive mural, fifteen by thirty feet in size, that was created by Puerto Rican artist Rafael Tufiño to commemorate la plena, a wildly popular genre of music that was born in the city of Ponce around 1900. The mural, which might appear abstract or incomprehensible to a viewer unfamiliar with the subject matter, illustrates the lyrics of popular plena songs. For example, the blue-green figure that dominates the upper half of the mural represents the hurricane from the plena “Temporal,” which mourns the destruction caused by a storm. Plena, as a genre, tells stories. According to my research , the lyrics come from current events, re-telling the stories that affected the lives of the people of Ponce. It began as a way for people of low socio-economic sta
Read more