Art Appreciation
Art Analysis Paper
April 25, 2014
In this painting, a woman is seen on the left, holding an umbrella with a purse draped over her shoulder. This also hints to the viewer that it is raining. On the right side of the painting are two lampposts and an empty bench in between. The lamps are light, which suggests the time of day is nightfall. So at first glance, what the viewer sees is a woman walking away on a rainy night. To achieve a nighttime setting without an overwhelming amount of darkness or blackness is amazing. In fact, the artist achieves this by doing the completely opposite, with bright warm colors. Without seeing the woman’s face or expression it is difficult to have a definite sense of what story the picture is telling. However, it can be inferred that this woman is leaving the bench, either from having waited for too long or due to the rainy weather. Whether or not she is happy or sad about this situation is really up to the viewer’s imagination, since the artist does not explicitly show it. The composition of this painting is made up of some really strong vertical lines, achieved by the lampposts and the woman’s stature, which is balanced by many horizontal lines seen in the ripple of the wet ground. The tree branches and the bench offers some counterbalance to the strong geometric lines by offering an organic feel to the painting with some curves and diagonals. The color of this painting is exciting, bringing light to a