Brianna Green
Professor Tim Cruise
Introduction to Art
15 April 2014
Seeing The Liberation of Peon by Diego Rivera The Liberation of Peon, by artist Diego Rivera is portrayed through a Fresco media with dimensions of 73'' x 94 ¼ ". It was painted in 1931 and is on display in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Looking at this artwork brings a mood of sadness. Five men, four horses, burning villages, and sandy hills occupy the scene. The focal point of the painting appears to be a slave being cut down and freed form a wooden post. The directions of the staring men’s eyes all point me to the direction of the slave being freed. Looking at this artwork I feel that even though the scene seems hostile and dangerous there is positivity because…show more content… The men are staring at the slave who is being freed and all the horses seem to be staring at me. The curvy lines used to show the smoke from the burning villages also imply motion and direction; they look as if they are rising upward toward the sky, escaping the burning villages. 6. Light- The painting appears to be in the day. The setting is very bright and makes the colors all appear very vibrant. 7. Color- The colors used in this painting are very luminous. They are vivid and make the artwork look as if it was not painted in 1931 but more recently. The colors seem very intense. There are a variety of colors used in the painting. The brightest color is displayed in the blanket used to cover the battered man. The intermediate colors of red and orange catch my eye while also contributing to the focal point of the painting. 8. Texture- The apparent lines formed from the paintbrush strokes create texture in this painting. Looking at it, I feel that if I were to really be touching the painting I would feel a surface that is smooth in some places but also rigid because of the lines produced by the visible brush strokes.
PRINCIPLES OF ART 9. Unity and Variety- Unity is displayed in the painting by the gathered characters and elements in the center of the piece. The painting is also unified through the visible brush strokes. Variety is integrated using lines and color. There are a variety of lines and uses of them like: curving
