The Potato Eaters Critique- group 1 PDF

Preview

Summary

CRTIQUE...

Description

The Potato Eaters Critique Done by: Maryam Elmehdi, Shoug, Mahaba – 12A

“The Potato Eaters,” is an oil painting completed in 1885 by Vincent Van Gogh. It depicts an impoverished and poor family sitting around a sparsely furnished and gloomy table. Van Gogh’s use of green hues and harsh lighting reflect the sick and unfortunate reality of the people of Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine of the early 19th century. Van Gogh considered The Potato Eaters as a showpiece, for which he purposely picked a difficult combination to demonstrate he was on route to turning into a decent figure painter. The composition needed to portray the cruel truth of nation life, so he gave the laborers coarse faces and hard, working hands. He painted the five figures in earth tones – 'something like the shade of a truly dusty potato, unpeeled obviously. He was extremely satisfied with the outcome: yet his artwork drew widespread criticism since its tones were so dim and the figures loaded with damages. These days, the Potato Eaters is one of Van Gogh's most acclaimed works. The painting portrays five figures consisting of three females and two males lounging around a square table eating potatoes. Most of them are eating heated potatoes from a potato plate. The lady on the far right of the painting is pouring a brew like espresso into the cups on the table from a tea kettle. Every one of them are wearing bandannas, and thick and long dress. They are in a dim room and the lone light

source comes from the oil light swinging from the ceiling. The light is arranged practically in the center point of the artwork and it enlightens the room. Although the painting is overwhelmed by dull and desolate tones, the outward appearances of the workers sparkle out brilliantly, uncovering their blended inward feelings. Their appearances are intense and grave, and they don't appear to be glad. Van Gogh used a palette of earthy tones, such as browns, greys, greens, and yellows. This was to portray the earthy and brown colors of freshly dug up potatoes, which is very smart and adds meaning and depth to the painting. While dark and gloomy colors dominate the painting, the peasants' facial expressions shine brightly, exposing their mixed inner emotions. They are very serious and solemn in their expressions, and they do not seem to be very content. Their appearances are depicted as ambivalent and mistrustful. The figures remain in their own depth, not speaking, but directly looking into the imaginary world. They have coarse and protruding characteristics, which are peasants' distinctive features. Their figures, as seen from their hands reaching out to get the potatoes, are bony and coarse. However, they are also primarily naturalistic and very plain and established which is a very good balance. It is clear that Van Gogh put much thought into the painting from the very smallest details to the way the different elements in the painting complement each other and we can really understand the message he is trying to portray and how tough the lives of those peasants were during that time. In conclusion, Van Gough`s painting, The Potato Eater is a very detailed painting that has a lot of thought gone into it. Additionally, it symbolizes an unfortunate event and portrays a very strong message. We would definitely recommend any art and history lovers to look into this painting and research further about it as it is a great painting and depicts a very strong and meaningful image....