Grey Horizontal

The piece in which I found most interesting would be the one done by Will Barnet with oil on canvas in 1961. This piece was named Grey Horizontal. This painting depicted a woman who looked like the guardian or care taker for the little girl beside her in the picture. The older women looked as though she was sneering over something she had just done to the little girl or told the little girl to do. By the expression on the older woman’s face, it seemed like she was gloating. The little girl was not looking straight forward. She was holding a cat in her lap and seemed to be looking at the ground with shame or some sort of upsetting feeling. All three of the images are positioned on a grey piece of furniture, which seems to capture the mood perfectly.

The year of 1961 seemed to be gloomy. There were wars on the verge of breaking out, the Soviets split East and West Berlin, people trying to test and promote integration measures (Freedom Riders ), and there was just a mass of seriousness among the world at that time. In Grey Horizontal the woman and the little girl are white in skin color. This most likely means that their lives, maybe not the best, were better than the everybody else's lives around this time. Although there are no outstanding aspects to the piece that can converse with the time period, I would not doubt the significance in the gaze on the faces of the two females.

Pathos is shown pretty big in this painting. The little girls fixed stare on the ground makes us feel as though she has gotten in trouble for something. It is apparent that the women beside her is in charge as she lay casually on the grey furniture with a gloating expression. I value discipline and obedience to my elders. If the little girl did in fact do something wrong then I feel it was right for her to be scolded or put on punishment.

The ethos is a little bit harder to grasp but some background info on the artist gives a more clear answer. The artist was born in 1911 in America. He is well-known for his paintings of people and animals in watercolor or even in dreamlike worlds. He studied at the Art Students League of New York with Stuart Davis (another famous artist). He worked really hard and eventually became the official printer  for the Art Students League.

Grey Horizontal to me, is claiming that kids are inferior to their elders. I would agree with this claim in most cases. It might also be claiming in itself the power of color. There is basically just different shades of brown and grey in this piece and yet the contrast in them is compelling.

My experience at the Palmer museum was very nice, it being my first time there. I was very fascinated with the fancy art, like the chinese dynasty statue and all the glassy ones, and also ones that looked like they were used for cooking and cleaning in like a tribe. I would go back there just to see things that I am sure I missed. It was a lot to take in all at once, in a good way.