Often Times People Tend To Look At A Work Of Art And Only See A Essay Example For Students

Often Times People Tend To Look At A Work Of Art And Only See A Essay picture. Later, if one looks closer a clear message or meaning isdepicted by the artist. Thomas Hart Bentons work, CradlingWheat, for example is just a picture at first glance, but as oneexamines the painting closer, the story behind it becomes evident. This tempera and oil on board composition illustrates fourmen in a field threshing and bundling wheat. Benton draws theviewers eye forward by placing the characters in the foreground ofthe work and the surrounding landscape in the back. Here, theAmerican artist presents the focal point he intended. The faces ofthe men in the piece are all hidden by hats, distance, or turnedbacks. By hiding their faces the conclusion can be drawn thatthese men are hired hands. Benton emphasizes the type of menby presenting them in similar clothing. All dressed in charcoaltrousers and sky-blue work shirts, they appear to be wearinguniforms. Perhaps the artist feels that most farm hands wereno-named and insignificant and expresses his opinion by givingthem these characteristics. Assumable is the fact that thepainting depicts times before electricity and the invention ofmotors because the men are using hand tools to cut and bundlethe wheat. Included in the focal point, of course, is the wheat. Benton combines texture and a vivid shade of tan to bring thewheat field to life. While the texture of the wheat is definite, it isalso soft, creating the effect of a light breeze in the Midwesternscene. The brightness of the color of the wheat also adds to the3atmosphere created by the artist. While the background sets acertain mood, the brilliance of the wheat helps define the type ofday Benton wanted to portray-a hot, summer afternoon. Inaddition to the wheat, a few small wildflowers are scatteredthroughout the field. The philosophy behind the dispersedblossoms suggests a break in the monotony of constancy. Thereis a constancy of wheat and a constancy of labor and while theclever, American artist is aiming to show the life of a farmhand, headded the flowers to simply break up the invariability. The secondary part of the composition, the background, doesnothing more than set the mood or atmosphere and provide aspecific landscape for the work. Closest to the focal point is a lineof trees and foliage which separates the wheat field from anotherfield. The use of the dark emerald vegetation emphasizes thecertainty that the scene is on an immense farm. Behind the wild foliage is another spacial field of a light shadeof green. By adding this field, Benton implies that the farm growsa variety of crops, but again, it chiefly adds to the landscape andlittle more than that. Following the light green field is yet another field. It appearsto be a second wheat field of a darker shade of tan. The tawnyhue of this field gives a shaded effect achieving a distant air. While most of the background exclusively sets the scene, thissubsequent wheat field also seems to signify the vast workload