Who is that Person?

The portrait that I am writing about is number four. The woman’s face, details in the painting and the colors of the portrait tell us about her personality and her life. First, the subject’s face reveals a lot about her. Her face shows us that she is an elderly woman and her mouth, eyebrows and eyes show that she is afraid of something. I wonder if she is afraid of death or if maybe she has just been told that she is going to be put in a nursing home. Also, her hair is very unkempt and it looks like she doesn’t take very good care of herself. I get the feeling that her life is rather sad and lonely. However, she seems to have smile lines around her mouth so I don’t think that she has always been that way.

Second, the details in the painting bring more understanding to the interpretation of the subject. The woman is wearing a bathrobe which shows that she can’t get dressed or that she is just too depressed to start the day. There is also something that looks like a wedding ring on her finger. I wonder if she had a husband and he has died and now she feels extremely lonely. It also looks like she is in a rocking chair which I have always thought is a good place to be if you want comfort. There is something about rocking back and forth that makes you feel better. Maybe this woman feels the same way and has come to the rocking chair to deal with her husband’s death. A different interpretation of this has to do with the tie around her waist. This was the first thing that I noticed when I looked at this portrait. I thought that it was a rope tying her to the rocking chair but then I realized that it is her bathrobe tie. I wonder if the artist wanted us to think at first that it is a rope to get the idea that the woman feels imprisoned. Maybe she feels trapped by her older body and the fact that she can’t do as much as when she was younger or maybe she feels that way because her family has taken over making decisions for her such as putting her in a nursing home.

Third, the colors in the portrait add more details to the interpretation. Most of the colors in this painting are dark- the dark blue dresser, dark colored walls and floor. I think this dark color may show how this woman’s life is dark and that she is depressed. The only bright color in the painting is the yellow of the lemons. I wonder why the artist wanted the lemons to stand out so much. Maybe it is because the artist is comparing the subject to the lemons. Maybe she is bitter about something like how lemons are sour.

Overall, the subject’s face, the details and the colors in the painting all give us clues about who the woman is. I think that she is sad, lonely, afraid, bitter, and she feels hopeless and trapped.