How
does art tell a story?
Growing
up, we had a painting on the wall in our living room - Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s
World. A tall, thin woman was sitting in a field down the hill from a
house. She seemed to be leaning, yearning to be in the house, her home.
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| Figure 1 Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth courtesy Brandywine River Museum of Art |
For most of my young life I thought the woman was my
Mom because she had the exact same features. When I asked her why someone had
painted her in a field, she laughed and said this was a story of Christina.
She said every picture tells a story. We might not
know the specific story the artist had in mind, but we can create a story from
their work.
All art has a story and can transport from where you
stand admiring it you in so many ways. It reminds you of places and faces, it
brings forth emotions,
As a kid, I created different stories about the woman
in the picture. “She fell down and broke her leg and had been yelling for help
for hours.” “She was taken to this spot by someone, but yearned to get back
home.” In honesty, Wyeth knew Christina as a neighbor who was unable to walk.
He caught sight of her out the window, crawling across the field when Wyeth
decided to make the painting.
The point is, every oil or watercolor painting, every
sculpture is intended to create a narrative. They transport us into the
splendor of nature, or tell the story of a place’s history.
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| Figure 2 Ice House by Tim Upham and Lisa Cameron courtesy of Town of Monument |
For example, the
Ice House pictured above by Tim Upham and Lisa Cameron,
depicts historical Monument, Colorado. Before refrigeration, workers cut ice
chunks from nearby Monument Lake to keep food cold. The individual, cascading
pictures blend together into one cohesive mural artfully depicting the scene.
Check out this short video showing how an Nigerian
sculptor tells folk tales through art -
Other times, art must be thoughtfully studied before a
story comes forth. Touring the Modern Museum of Art (MOMA) in New York City, I
was aghast that someone would hang a large painting of a single, black square! Kazemir
Malevich, a Russian artist who may have been the first to create abstract art,
produced his “black square” paintings intent on showing non-objectivity. Certainly, a noble gesture, once learned, makes the simple black square more
appealing and thoughtful.
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| Figure 3: Example of Kazemir Malevich's black square process |
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato said,”Beauty lies
in the eye of the beholder.” His teacher Socrates thought art isn’t rational,
but instead is inspired by muses. So, the next time you come across a piece of
art at a gallery or in public, stop a moment and create your own story and see
where it leads.
Written by Allison Robenstein