The Open Window by Elizabeth Okie Paxton (Interpretation and Analysis)

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The Open Window
Source: Wikimedia Commons
There are some themes that are universal in art. Over the centuries, artists have returned again and again to the motif of a figure gazing out a window. This theme is especially common in Western art, where it often implies anticipation, curiosity, and other outgoing, external characteristics or emotions. The Open Window is an example of one such painting.

The piece was created by Elizabeth Okie Paxton. Today, Okie Paxton is best known as a painter of the Boston school, a group of Bostonain painters who focused on portraying interior scenes or landscapes in a painterly, almost impressionistic style. Although it was unusual for women in general to become painters, it was relatively common in Boston, where there were many artists willing to take on female students. The style of the Boston school was eminently suitable for a female artist, as women were usually constrained to painting domestic scenes.

Although Okie Paxton focused on these interior, domestic scenes, her work contains a powerful sense or originality and energy, and The Open Window is a fine example of her art. The painting depicts a young woman sitting in front of a window as she works at a sewing machine. The viewer has caught the woman in an idle moment. She gazes dreamily out the window, a wistful expression on her face. 

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Compositionally, the piece is very similar to Johannes Vermeer’s great masterpiece Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window. Vermeer’s painting has been understood as a representation of a woman’s desire to leave the domestic world, and Okie Paxton’s piece can be interpreted in the same way. It is an aspirational piece. Here, Okie Paxton shows a young woman dreaming of a better life, one that will take her out of the home and give her greater freedom, a sentiment that many people can connect with. The open window—in this painting and in other paintings—can be understood as a symbol of this freedom, which is perhaps what makes it such an enduring and moving icon.

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.

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