Virginia Craig
Professor Bomboy
Due April 2, 2014
Non-Western Art Critique
The Flower Carrier
The Flower
Carrier [formerly The Flower Vendor] — Diego Rivera — 1935, Mexico
In this paper I will describe the
artwork I have chosen and its use of its elements as well as describe the use
of the design principles used in the painting. Secondly I will be discussing
where the art work came from, when it was made, and as well as how we can
determine the authenticity of the artwork. Thirdly I will discuss what might be
the function of the artwork, how it fits in the culture that it was produced
in, and what kind of culture information the artwork conveys. Lastly I will
discuss how this artwork makes me react, how it makes me feel, as well as what
causes the reaction and feeling I have towards the artwork.
In the painting of “The Flower Carrier”
the artist Diego Rivera uses very vibrant colors which make the painting stand
out. Provided in the painting is a picture of a man who is trying to carry an oversize load of pink and purple flowers. Also in the picture is a woman who I
presume to be his wife trying to help him lift up an enormous basket. To a
regular person’s eye the flowers are beautiful and yet we may believe they are
not as heavy as he perceives them to be. Rather, the painting itself demonstrates the man
does not see the flowers as beautiful but only of their value as he is trying
to get them to a market to sale or exchange so he can provide for his family. All
of the shapes in the painting demonstrate a bold and intense contrast with each
item and person and they mirror their individualism. The artist uses the
shadows to make the main character or item stand out from the anything else,
mainly the background of the painting. It looks as if the figures in the
painting are outlined. Also the basket it a size bigger than the woman but yet
the woman is a size maybe two sized bigger than the man. The scale of the woman
seems to be different than that of the man or even the basket. It is difficult
to determine what Rivera intended to be the main focal point of this painting.
The Flower Carrier was painted by Diego Rivera in 1935 in Mexico. On The Garden of Praise website is states that,
“Rivera was one of three artists chosen to paint murals on the walls of public
buildings. Later he became director of the Academy of San Carlos in 1929. He is
noted for the murals he painted in Mexico. He was invited to paint murals in
the United States. He painted one in California and then went to Detroit where
in 1932 and 1933 he painted scenes from a Ford Motor plant.” Only two years
later he painted The Flower Carrier. Rivera was so well known at the time for
his previous work that authenticating The Flower Carrier could easily have been
done by those familiar with his work.
Perhaps
Rivera hoped the function of this painting would be to help preserve the
history of how people had to gather flowers for a living. Rivera likely saw
people he knew performing this type of work within his own culture.
This artwork makes
me feel a type of warmth and happiness. At the same time I feel disappointed
and saddened for the people who had to live this way in the past. The reason I
say this is because I wouldn’t want to live in that day where my father or
mother had to strain or work as hard as people had to for them to just be able
to provide food for their family. I feel like in the day the kids never got to
see one of the parents because they were working to provide for them yet being
able to actually spend time with their kids and raising them are the most
important things in life today. When I see the man straining to pick up the
basket of flowers I look at today’s society and how we have all this
technology, vehicles, and horses that could help us transport even more than
what he was trying to carry for such a long distance. At the same time I am
very happy that today’s world has so much technology and capabilities so that
my parents don’t have to strain to work for a living just to provide for me and
my brothers. We also are able to see our parents during the day or at night
when we get home from school because they are not so worn out from work, etc. Still
they are able to take us out for dinner, family vacations, and little weekend
getaways. It seems unlikely that either of the people in this painting ever
enjoyed any such luxury. I believe in today’s society we take everything for
granted and if we were to actually sit and examine paintings from those who had
to live back in the day where they had to do nothing but manual labor to make a
living for their family maybe we would appreciate today’s world more often and
what it provides for us on a daily basis.
