Art is the Solution

The Lovers Source: Arthive To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I want to share a rather strange image of romantic love: The Lovers by René Magritte. Magritte was a Surrealist artist who is well known for his bizarre and witty paintings. While he typically painted in a Realistic style, Magritte’s work challenges viewers by placing everyday objects in strange contexts. The contradictions in his art force viewers to examine their understanding of the world around them. Famously, Magritte noted that he wanted to “make the most everyday objects shriek aloud” in his work. This desire to make the familiar unfamiliar can be seen in The Lovers . The painting depicts a close-up of a kissing couple. Bizarrely, cloth covers the heads of the two lovers, completely shrouding their faces. In many ways, The Lovers is a conventional scene; however, the hidden faces make the painting strange and disconcerting. Like many of Magritte’s paintings, The Lovers subverts the viewer’s expectations. The idea of ...

Trust Me Source: Arthive In the era before television and movies, visual art filled a unique role in society as both a source of entertainment and a medium for social and political statements. Thus, people in the Victorian age expected paintings to tell a story. Art could entertain or instruct or impart a religious message, but it nearly always contained some kind of narrative. John Everett Millais’ 1862 painting Trust Me is an excellent example of this aspect of nineteenth century art. The painting depicts a young woman and an older man, presumably a father and daughter, standing together in a breakfast room. The woman holds a letter behind her back while her father reaches out to take it from her. Although the daughter’s face is calm and impassive—not offering any hint to the contents of the letter—the father’s expression is stern and disapproving There is obvious tension in this scene, but the substance of the interaction is unclear. Contemporary newspapers that reported on The Roya...

The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower Source: Wikimedia Commons When King Edward IV of England died in 1483, his two young sons found themselves in a difficult position. Although Edward IV’s oldest son should have become Edward V, the late king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, imprisoned his two nephews in the Tower of London and declared himself King Richard III. What happened next is up for debate; however, young King Edward V and his brother Prince Richard never left the Tower again. It is assumed that the boys, aged twelve and nine, were either murdered for political reasons or fell ill and died. Shakespeare memorialized the story of the children in his famous play Richard III . The story of the princes in the Tower is one of the most famous and tragic mysteries in the history of England. To this day, historians speculate about the fate of the two young boys and the identity of their (assumed) murderer. In the seventeenth century, two child-sized skeletons were fou...

The Black Brunswicker Source: Wikimedia Commons English artist John Everett Millais is known for his dramatic art, but few paintings in his oeuvre tell a more heart-wrenching story than The Black Brunswicker . The piece depicts a young soldier and his sweetheart saying their goodbyes as he prepares to depart for battle. The title of the painting refers to the Black Brunswickers, a corp of German soldiers who became famous for bravery and sacrifice at the Battle of Waterloo. In the painting, The soldier pulls the door open, trying to leave, while the woman pushes it shut. A framed picture of Napoleon hangs in the background, illuminating the source of their conflict. The painting highlights the pain of separation. Almost all the Brunswickers were killed during the battle, suggesting that the couple in the painting might be parting for the final time. It is an emotional scene that is accentuated by Millais’ use of color. The soldier’s black uniform contrasts strongly with the lady’s whit...

The Vale of Rest Source: Wikimedia Commons For day two of John Everett Millais week, I want to take a look at a more staid, contemplative piece of art: The Vale of Rest . The title of this piece comes from composer Felix Mendelssohn's song Ruhetal , which translates to restful valley in German. Like Mendelssohn's song—which discusses the narrator’s final resting-place—Millais’ painting explores the theme of death. The piece depicts a graveyard at twilight. Two nuns are present, one is vigorously digging a grave, while the other woman sits on a headstone. Her face is turned toward the viewer, and her expression conveys pain and sadness. There is no sign of what they are burying or exhuming, but the nun’s anguished face and the skull on her rosary beads clearly signals death. Two wreaths rest next to the sitting nun, another sign that a funeral may be about to take place. A low wall surrounds the graveyard, and the belfry of a chapel can be seen in the distance. A purply, golden ...