Three Pieces from the BMA

The Crown of Flowers By: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

These three pieces from the Baltimore Museum of Art stood out to me because even though they were all portraying women using oils on canvas each artist's individual style made each piece very different.

Purple Robe and Anemones by Henri Matisse

Woman with Bangs by Pablo Picasso

My favorite of the three is Woman with Bangs by Pablo Picasso. First, I like how the shades of blue as the dominant colors of the painting, immediately influences the overall tone of the piece. In addition, having the woman's complexion and clothes composed of blues and greens makes her appear to be matching the background. This color choice looks almost as if she is blending into the background. Regardless of her blue and green complexion, her expression alone is powerful. Her eyes are a bit asymmetric making her gaze appear glazed over or zoning out. One eyeball appears to be gazing upward and the other downward. In addition, her heavy eyelids add to her overall unimpressed/bored/depressed expression. Lastly, having her lips be muted shades of red instead of blue or green makes the viewer immediately focus onto that part of her face. Her lips' shape is particularly expressive adding to her overall look of dissatisfaction.

Two other components that I enjoyed and added to the mood of this piece was where the woman was placed in the picture and her shadow. Her body is in the lower right instead of the center of the piece making her appear smaller and more vulnerable. In addition, by positioning her in this way makes it seem like the viewer is looking at a private moment. Additionally, her shadow almost seems like another figure behind her. Lastly, I like the title of the piece because instead of commenting on her mood, Picasso chose to focus on a seemingly minute detail of the piece: her bangs. Overall I really liked this painting because of the subject's expressive facial expression, artist's powerful color choice, and general composition of the piece.