Mid-Morning Art Thread [Kris]

The Yellow Jacket
William McGregor Paxton

This painting is primarily about light. The room is dark except for the one small window on the right. As the only light source in the work, it creates bright highlights and rich shadows. The painting isn’t gloomy however, because of the warm light reflecting off the gold coat and the woman’s face. They are lovely and give the room a homey feel. This mood is helped by the softness of the sunlight. It looks like it’s shining through a thin gauze that softens it some. This makes the conversion from highlights to shadows a gradual change, which also softens the mood of the work. The lighting suggests a pleasant, peaceful space.

While I think light is the key element here, shape and color play an important role too. A dominant feature is the large gold triangle in the lower center of the painting. The light from the window shines directly onto it and it glows. The woman’s face complements the jacket’s radiance. Embiggen the picture. The woman’s face isn’t pale. It has a warm skin tone, which matches some of the areas of the coat. For me, they brighten the room even more.

I like how the colors of the large book use the same shades as the woman and her coat. The book is part of the central triangle and its shape and color complete and unify the overall form.

I also like how this painting is framed. Even though the window is small, it still has power because of the white light coming from it. This has the potential of unbalancing the whole work. Paxton cropped it so only a sliver is seen but it’s still pretty strong visually. However, the yellow jacket is not a counterbalance for the window because of its placement in the scene. It’s too centered. If anything, it is the painting’s fulcrum. That window threatens to tip to the painting to the right. The dim gold/brass-colored object on the extreme top left is the counterweight. I cannot make out what it is, but it’s the same shape and almost the same size as the lit part of the window.

I think something interesting is happening here. This object’s color is less radiant than the window. As such, the left side shouldn’t be able to offset the right, but it does. In your mind, remove that thing. Notice how the painting destabilizes. Why? I think it’s because of the yellow jacket. The object on the left is a similar color to the jacket – albeit dimmer. But it’s close enough to piggyback onto the jacket’s brightness and challenge the power of the window.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:34 AM

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