Hi, the assignment is asking to write a visual analysis essay based on Gottfried Helnwein’s artwork
Hi, the assignment is asking to write a visual analysis essay based on Gottfried Helnwein’s artwork(posted at the end of my essay), no historical information or any research need, just to analyze it based on what you see using the language of art such as focal point, linear perspective, cool & warm color…
I have already done with the essay, but could you help me to proofread it according to vocabulary, grammar and anything else to make it a high-quality essay, THANKS!!
The use of contrast colors, composition and symbolic character in the oil painting The Disaster of War 54 created by Gottfried Helnwein helps showing how he feels sympathy for the kid.The painting is dark and full of violence and terror that shows a child sits slumped at the foot of her bed, her expression strangely blank given the other figure in the bare room
The only three elements in the photo are a rabbit, a girl, and a bed. Helnwein used the rule of the third to make compositions, means in the canvas evenly divided into nine pieces. Since the rabbit and the girl’s face are all according to the intersections of any of nine divided rectangles, the composition makes the whole picture balance. The first thing that catches people’s eyes is definitely how Gottfried Helnwein uses symbolic character, which is the uniformed bunny, to indicate violence and terror. The ghostly, uniformed bunny standing at attention looks like an antagonist in Disney cartoon due to its creepy saucer-wide eyes and sharp face, which is nothing to do with “cute” or “warm” that people usually think of rabbits. The uniform it wears reminds me of the military leader in the past. It would be a realistic painting of a little girl sitting on the bed sadly staring out of the window if we cover the blue bunny. But the bunny’s existence creates more focal points for audiences that make their eye travel when looking at the artwork. // Another important element is the pale bed that the little girl sits on. The bunny should be a good companion when kids go to bed, but differently, in this painting, the girl is sitting hopelessly and nervous facing the huge bunny standing in front of him. The bedsheet is full of folds and the girl is wearing little cloth, which reminds me of sexual abuse. What’s more, the bare room that they stay in doesn’t look like a normal room. It’s dark and bare as a jail, and the girl sits like an innocent prisoner waiting for the judge.
3- Also, Gottfried Helnwein used the light to imply invisible harm toward the little girl.The overall light of this painting is very dark, and the direction of shadow shows that light in this picture comes from the left side. Although the rabbit is standing in front of that girl, it didn’t cover any lights and has disparate color. The rabbit seems to be invisible as the girl is not paying attention to it even if it is right in front of her. Gottfried Helnwein used this light to imply invisible harm toward the little girl. Gottfried’s painting mostly used dark brown and dark blue since his theme is all about negative emotion. The girl is in yellowish warm color because she’s facing the light, symbolized that she is just a normal kid. Blue and yellow are contrasting colors, and blue is rarely seen on skin color, which stands for unknown terrify. Also, the solid blue color of the rabbit makes him stand out more and stressful. Blue usually associated with feeling sad and depressed, which is obviously in the painting. Except for the blue tone, other colors in the artwork is grayish, so that the bunny can be emphasized.
One more thing to indicate is the size. The actual impressive painting is on 73inches * 102 inches canvas, which technically enables Gottfried Helnwein to paint more details and more realistic. On the other hand, a painting that is as big as a wall would bring immersive experience for the audience. A uniformed bunny that is 73 inches tall would bring pressure to both the girl and the audience, and people who see this would feel depressed.
Even though the painting was used to express Gottfried’s hopeless feelings due to those kids who experienced war’s cruelty as the title shows, the images still speak to the audience to let them fell sympathy through Gottfried Helnwein’s lighting, color, composition, and his characters. The image brings to mind the effects of Child abuse all over the world.
