The Bar, John Brack
oil on canvas
National Museum of Victoria
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Critique #1
Conformity is displayed in "The Subway", which is painted by George Tooker. In the painting, there is a frightened looking woman walking down a brightly lit hallway. On either side of her, she is surrounded by people who look very much alike. The exits out of the hallway all seem to be barred off, leaving no escape.
In the painting, there is not constant plane. There are several points of elevation and depression, and there are not many flat areas. However, the hallway behind the woman seems to stretch on indefinitely. The shadows around the people's feet and their bent knees indicate that some of the passengers are moving around. Tooker only uses bright and bold colors in this painting. The flourescently lite hallway creates a cold environment in the painting contrasts with the bold colors of the people's coats. Also, the barred off sections and the bright lights give the subway the appearance of a prison. The emphasis of the painting is clearly on the woman with the frightened expression. She is placed closest to the viewer, strategically positioned between two men who look like clones of each other. Even though the colors of her clothing are the same, her expression is what makes her stand out.
Judging by her expression and her hand on her stomach, the woman appears to be sickened by what she sees. She is most likely sickened by the fact that everyone around her is basically the same. The closed off sections of the subway seem to show that the woman cannot escape her surroundings. I think that the painting is supposed to represent Tooker's fear of conformity and how he feels that we cannot escape it. I feel that Tooker displayed his point about conformity greatly in this painting,. However, it would have been more effective if he made everyone around the woman look exactly the same, instead of having minor differences. George Tooker displays conformity in his painting named "The Subway".
Monday, March 1, 2010
Critique #2
George Tooker displays conformity in a different piece of his called Government Bureau. The painting was done on egg tempera on wood, and it is currently located in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In the painting, there are lines of men and women that seem to go on forever, and none of the faces of the people are shown. Also, there are workers behind glass boxes that are unidentifiable, and the only visible parts of their body are their eyes and hands, sometimes even their nose or one of their ears.
Only dull and dim shades of brown, pink, orange, green, and beige are used in Tooker’s painting. However, the bright red of the scarves on some of the women’s heads contrast with the dull colors of their clothing and of the building. The light at the top of the painting balances out with the dark found near the bottom. The appearance of the booths that the employees are working in seems to have the texture of wood. The long lines, the booths, the support beams on the ceiling, and the lights make it seem like the space beyond the painting goes on indefinitely. The form of the building is not very distinct, so it basically can be any type of building. Since none of the people in line has bent knees, raised feet, or shadows pointing in a certain direction, it’s easy to tell that none of the people in line are moving. Tooker uses realism in his painting, since long lines are very common in public buildings, such as the one displayed in this painting. The foreground of the painting is a man with short, blonde hair and a brown trench coat who is not standing in line. The foreground is placed close to two men who look exactly like him. Nobody in the painting has their own identifiable face, putting emphasis on the fact that they cannot be distinguished from each other.
The focal point of this painting is the man in the brown coat in the center of the painting. He looks just like the other people in the painting, but the one thing that makes him stick out is the fact that he isn't in a line. This could represent that the man is starting to break away from the conformity that is taking place. At first, the message is not noticeable, so maybe the artist could have portrayed it in a more obvious way. Other than that, this is a powerful peice and an excellent example of conformity.Only dull and dim shades of brown, pink, orange, green, and beige are used in Tooker’s painting. However, the bright red of the scarves on some of the women’s heads contrast with the dull colors of their clothing and of the building. The light at the top of the painting balances out with the dark found near the bottom. The appearance of the booths that the employees are working in seems to have the texture of wood. The long lines, the booths, the support beams on the ceiling, and the lights make it seem like the space beyond the painting goes on indefinitely. The form of the building is not very distinct, so it basically can be any type of building. Since none of the people in line has bent knees, raised feet, or shadows pointing in a certain direction, it’s easy to tell that none of the people in line are moving. Tooker uses realism in his painting, since long lines are very common in public buildings, such as the one displayed in this painting. The foreground of the painting is a man with short, blonde hair and a brown trench coat who is not standing in line. The foreground is placed close to two men who look exactly like him. Nobody in the painting has their own identifiable face, putting emphasis on the fact that they cannot be distinguished from each other.
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