The systematic analysis of an art work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The systematic analysis of an art work - Essay Example The Museum possesses a permanent collection of Art works of American, European, Asian and Contemporary Art. The reason behind the selection of the painting- The Young Shepherdess is that it represents the attractiveness of village life. Besides, it stands for nostalgic feeling and realism. At the museum, the work was displayed on canvas mounted on board, with high concentration on minute details of female human body. Bailey Van Hook concludes that: â€Å"Bouguereau’s subjects divide into mythological and religious subjects and peasant genre.† (Hook 32) As an exponent of Academic Painting, Bouguereau’s subject matter is vivid, ranging from mythological, religious and peasant genre. Moreover, he was with a Classical approach towards composition, form and subject matter. Bouguereau was an exponent of Academic Art, which was deeply influenced by European Universities. He made use of nature allegories to bring out the essence of his unique ideas. As a supporter of Academic Painting style, Bouguereau granted highest status to historical and mythological subjects. This uniqu e art work belongs to peasant genre because the very face of the shepherd girl reveals her innocence and truthfulness of peasant life in remote villages. Besides, the work is symbolic of hardships of peasant life. The face of the girl reveals that she is without any emotion towards life and her defensive pose shows that she is with so many household responsibilities like rearing sheep. Her bare footed state, naked neck, ears and hands expose her poverty. Moreover, the artist was famous for his lively female portraits with a slight touch of eroticism. At this point, the artist makes use of color combination for the clarity of the painting. For instance, the girl is portrayed in light colors, i.e. grey, light grey, ash color and ivory white color. Here, one can see that the lower part of the girl is painted in dark colors/shades and the upper part is painted in light colors/shades.