Visual analysis
Introduction
In a Quandry or Mississippi Raftsmen at Cards is categorized as a painting artwork which was done in 1951 by a Missouri artist called George Caleb Bingham. George Caleb taught himself about the painting, and eventually, he emerged to be one of the greatest genres and portrait painters in the United States. In coming up with the portrait, Caleb used Oil on canvas as the medium. In a Quandry or Mississippi Raftsmen at Cards was made in Missouri, United States, North, and Central America, and it’s categorized as genre paint with dimensions such as “17 1/2 x 21 in. (44.5 x 53.3 cm.) frame: 25 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 4 in. (64.1 × 74.3 × 10.2 cm.)”. This paper seeks to provide visual analysis of the In a Quandry, or Mississippi Raftsmen at Cards artwork by George Caleb. In the analysis, the paper provides historical context as well as the aesthetic effects of the artwork.
Formal Analysis
In a Quandry or Mississippi Raftsmen at Cards is amongst the amusing paints, which is stored in the Saint Louis Art Museum located in Missouri. In improving its general view, Caleb used vivid color and detail to demonstrate the paint. The genre painting from Caleb indicates unique behavior for Americans and their lifestyle. For instance, the men play cards could only exist in the American River. From the paint, Caleb idealized the lifestyle of the Americans from the river scene of the river of life during the late 40s. First, the paint shows a large and flat raft that was flowing on the surface of the water in the Mississippi River during the 19th century. In presenting the paint well, Caleb used glue, thus holding all the characters together, thus leading to the main focus. Besides, Caleb captured quiet leisure moment from for raftsmen in a simple flat raft. Two of the men seem to be engaged in the card game while the other two men seem to be seriously observing the flow of the game. The men in the paint were dressed in bright colors and acted as the central focus for the main paint. In my view, each man in the raft had a different personality, and the painter intended to pass the information about the real characters of the American. In the paint, all the men in unique clothes were relaxing and deed nothing, thus indicating how the weather was calm, allowing the raft to flow smoothly. Generally, the painter presented every man as a unique character since he used unique features in representing them. The features include clothes and attitudes.
The genre painting is characterized by unique lighting, which makes it easy to focus on the main characters (four raftsmen). From the paint, it can conclude that the painter wanted to focus on the actions which were happening on the rafts only. From the paint, the light used only focused on the front of the raft. This light was intentional since it was only aimed at focusing on the central focus of the paint, which was the four raftsmen. As indicated in the paint, the far end seems to be hazy and foggy, thus making it difficult to identify the scenes. Besides, Caleb used a slightly dark background and unseen features to ensure that the viewer focuses on the clear part of the paint. The men presented in paint seemed to enjoy each other company despite the fact that others had shoes and others lacked. From the paint, the lighting is set in such as that no shadow seems from the four men. At a far look, it can be seen in the picture that the light was projected from the left as indicated shadow in front of the playing men. Besides, the man bare-foot has his shadow behind his back, going toward the right; therefore, confirming that the light was projected from left.
In my opinion, this artwork from George Caleb could be considered as the best American realism art as it details the real lifestyle of the American men. From the paint, it is clear that George spent his time well in presenting the distinction between the men in the raft by using a close view paint. Generally, this reveals the realistic style of Caleb on his work as it demonstrates how the river men life was before the introduction of cameras. Generally, Caleb painted all-together different elements into a cool paint, thus making the paint to be considered as the Soul of America capture.
In the paint, George presented the men and raft in a landscape manner. Therefore, this indicated that the paint is categorized under landscape work. With the technique used, Caleb paints on the men, and rafts make the paint to have punch and its coolness. The landscape presentation of the paint does the work to have a wide view, thus making every event noticeable. Also, the men presented, and their reactions in the paint make it to have its life. From the wide and landscape presentation indicate that Caleb was aware of what he was doing since the landscape nature provides the paint with new depth and new feeling about core realism.
In the paint, I just like how Caleb has presented the sense of spacing in his artwork. The spacing in the paint is moderately busy. The negative space in the paint is free, and Caleb decided to make the are invisible, while the positive space is characterized by moderate primary objects, which include the men and their raft.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that Caleb had mastered his genre work. Through the use of Oil on canvas, he was able to present unique paint, which demonstrates the reality of the American men’s lifestyle. The painter focused on the raft and four men relaxing while playing cards and other observing, thus giving the paint life. He used moderate busy spacing in the artwork, thus making it easy to understand. Its landscape nature and moderate lights make the paint to be clearly visible to the viewers, thus delivering the historic realism moments.