A Look at Three Paintings

When people look at and try to describe a painting one can come up with many different interpretations. Paintings can inspire us, show us beauty, despair or and/or a struggle, they can also give us hope. Let's look at three paintings and identify there theme, mood and meanings. In addition, we will discuss there similarities and there differences.

Let us first look at "The Volga Boatmen". "The Volga Boatmen" painted by Ilya Repin, sets the theme as being a struggle, the men in the painting being harnessed together and ordered to pull the boat that is stuck on a sandbar. When looking at the faces of the men it sets the mood as strenuous work, soreness from pulling such a large object, exhaustion and lastly pending death from exhaustion. When looking at each of the men in the painting there is a representation of different nationalities and ages.

"The Heart of Andes" painted by Frederic Edwin Church portrays a landscape scene in Ecuador along the Andes mountains. The theme is a peaceful and well-preserved environment and a calming effect for the viewer. The mood at first seems to be more calming and preserving beauty until onelook closely to the lower left corner, one can see a young girl bowing at what could possibly be a grave site. This would make the paintings mood change more toward death. Then when looking more at the painting one can see some of the trees hanging over the river which depicts death.

When looking at "The Battle of the Amazons" painted by Peter Paul Rubens the theme is clear that this is a violent battle and a fierce fight. The mood would come from some of the color usage red and other dark colors, red would represent blood shed and the dark colors from the sky pending death of many from both sides. There is also a lack of line definition would give the feel of motion as if the battle is still being fought. The mood also depicts struggle over possibly land or territory, and strife because of the fierceness of the battle. Lastly this painting shows the determination on both sides fighting for a cause that they believe in.

These three paintings even though very different do show many similarities. Death seems to be there common thread; "The Volga Boatmen" appear close to death because of being over worked. In "The Heart of Andes" the young girl kneeling in front of the grave shows death has happened and the trees hanging over the river imply pending death and that,everything at some point must die. Lastly, "The Battle of the Amazons" shows the violent battle that will results in death of many from both sides.

Battle also seems to be another common thread among all three paintings. The men in "The Volga Boatmen" seem to be battling exhaustion and the weight that they are being made to pull. In "The Heart of Andes" the battle is death itself, the grave shows death has happened and the trees hanging over the river show the battle to stay alive and fight death to the end. In "The Battle of the Amazon" shows a battle over land or territory.

When comparing these three paintings one can also notice the differences being depicted. First the different moods and how death is being portrayed in each painting, death from a battle or war, death from exhaustion, and death from natural causes. Second is how a battle is being portrayed, the men are battling exhaustion and even death in "The Volga Boatmen". The battle in "The Heart of Andes" seems to be death itself and how the trees are hanging on till their finial moment. Lastly "The Battle of the Amazons" is a battle over land or territory.

When we look at painting there is so much that we can get out of a painting. Paintings can cause us to be flooded with different thoughts and emotions. With the three paintings that we just looked at it is clear that many have a common thread and the artist uses his or hertalent to show how the same theme, mood and meaning can be displayed in different ways.