Thursday, May 5, 2011
Albrecht Durer's "The Praying Hands"
The Praying Hands by Albrecht Dürer illustrates a touching story of him and his brother, Albert Durer. The two brothers both had great dreams to pursue art, but their passion was blocked by financial issues. Thus, they made a pact; they would toss a coin, the winner goes to study art and the loser goes to the mines, working to support the brother’s educational fees. Then after the winner completes his studies, they would switch places. Albrecht won and went off to Nuremberg, turning into one of greatest artist at the time. When he returned home, he proudly told his brother it was his turn now. Albert sadly announced that it was too late for him. Because of working at mines, the bones in his fingers were smashed and he also developed arthritis. To pay homage to Albert for all that he’s sacrificed, Albrecht drew his brother’s much abused hands (The Story Behind the Picture of "The Praying Hands”).
This artwork from the Renaissance period depicts the fingers thin and outstretched, with protruding veins and tendons. Aging is shown through the joints. The thumb in the left hand is extended rather than its normal relaxed position. Some fingers are suggestive of Boutonniere deformity, where the middle joint is bent down and the end joint bent back. This is usually caused from injury, or developed from disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Pankaj Sharma, a physician engaged in clinical researched noted that the two hands are barely touching, showing signs of muscle wasting and diabetes mellitus. It is also noted that these features are not necessarily signs of deformities. The lightly pressed together hands were common in the art of the time that it could also be interpreted as a cultural or stylistic feature (The Model for Albrecht Dürer’s Praying Hands).
It is the many signs of hand deformity and it’s worn out appearance that draws to the conclusion of human suffering. The story behind these meaningful hands shows the brother’s helpless dreams that were once so bright, now shattered and hopeless.
The Story Behind the Picture of "The Praying Hands”. 1998-2009. Feel the Magic. Date accessed: April 21, 2011. <http://www.ftmagic.com/prayinghands.html>
The Model for Albrecht Dürer’s Praying Hands. Hektoen International. Chicago, IL. 2009. Date accessed: April 21, 2011. <http://hektoeninternational.org/Durers_praying_hands.html>
Edvard Munch's "The Scream"
The Scream was done in 1893 by the Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch. The death of his mother, a favorite sister, and the religious intensity of his strict father left him permanently scarred (The New York Times). His obsession with death, loneliness, jealousy, sexual anxiety, and torturous relationships with women, were all expressed in his artworks. When people criticized that if artists must change the appearance of men, they should idealize them rather than make them ugly, Munch responded back in his works that feelings of anguish is not beautiful, and that it would be dishonest to look only at the gratifying side of life. Expressionists at the time had strong feelings of human suffering, poverty, violence, and passion. Their thoughts were that only picturing beauty and harmony was brought out only from denial of the truth (Gombrich).
All the lines in this artwork seem to lead to one focus point - the head of the screaming person. The face is distorted, and its staring eyes and hollow cheeks hint to a death’s head (Gombrich). An interesting fact is that there is mysterious pencil marks scribbled within a streak of the sky. No one knows if it was by Munch himself or someone visiting in one of his early exhibitions, but Munch never removed it. In Norwegian it says: “Could only have been painted by a madman” (Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’).
The Scream relates to the theme because Munch is illustrating his true feelings. This screaming figure represented himself as he man standing on a similar bridge with a bloody red sky above him. A text accompanying this drawing state: “I walked with two friends. Then the sun sank. Suddenly the sky turned as red as blood … My friends walked on, and I was left alone, trembling with fear. I felt as if all nature were filled with one mighty unending shriek” (The Scream, 1895). All his emotions of loneliness, despair, desperation, and panic are threaded together in this artwork.
Edvard Munch The New York Times, Updated February 12, 2009. 2011 New York Times Company. Date accessed: April 26, 2011. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/edvard_munch/index.html>
Gombrich E. H., The Story of Art Sixteenth edition 1995. Phaidon Press Inc., New York. Page 564
Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother"
Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother photographed in February 1936 is one of a series of six photographs taken at a pea pickers’ camp in Nipomo, California. Lange was concluding a month’s assignment as a photographer for the Resettlement Administration, later known as Farm Security Administration. She was driving home when she passed by the camp’s sign. After driving on for twenty miles, she turned back to the camp, “following instinct, not reason.” This compelling picture features Florence Owens Thompson and her children (Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother"). It made its first appearance in the San Francisco News on March 10, 1936, as part of a story demanding relief for the starving pea pickers (Hariman and Lucaites).
This photograph was taken in the context of the Great Depression, capturing a sense of individual worth and class difficulties. The close distance gives a sense of personal anxiety as the woman silently hides her fears for her children, while their dirty and ragged clothes display the hardships of the lower class. The gesture of her right hand reaching up to her face depicts tension. Physical strength can be interpreted through her working hands while emotional weakness can be shown through her absent-minded facial expression. The rest of the picture narrates defensiveness as the bodies of the two children are turned inwards to the mother. She seems strong yet vulnerable, for her body and head are tilted forward to allow comfort for the children (Hariman and Lucaites).
Migrant Mother connects to the theme because it illustrates the inescapable fear and grief that was widely acknowledged from the Great Depression, experienced by many Americans lacking income. This photograph communicates the sufferings of the lower class, evoking sympathy and compassion. The impact of this photo began from its continual and frequent reproduction since the 1930s as a symbolic representation of America’s faith in its capability of overcoming despair and devastation.
Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" Photographs in the Farm Security Administration Collection: An Overview. Loc.gov. The Library of Congress, Researchers. October 22, 2010. Date accessed: April 24, 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html>
Hariman, Robert and Lucaites, John Louis, Migrant Mother No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy. University of Chicago, 2007. Date accessed: April 27, 2011. <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/316062.html>
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