Art As A Magic Mirror: Analysis Of Ivan Albright, Peter Blume, And Benny Andrews Paintings

What is art? People hold different opinions about this question for a long time. Art is a great invention to fulfill people aesthetic appreciation. Art can be divided into several functions, the record of the surroundings, or an expressive form, or a guide to help people view the world from other perspectives. Also, from the twenties-century, the avant-garde artists use art to raise public awareness of the specific event or fact.

In my opinion, I believe artists want to use the art as a medium to tell the truths or messages either common or concealed. Art is a magic mirror, it not only can tell the stepmother of Snow White who is the most beautiful woman in the world but also it can reflect and display the hidden truths or the easy-ignored things to human beings.

Ivan Albright, Peter Blume, and Benny Andrews reveal and remind the certain information to people in their paintings. In order to emphasize the aging and decay, Ivan Albright painted the painting “Into the World There Came a Soul Call Ida” in 1929-1930. The medium is oil on canvas. The subject matter is an old and ugly woman tries to hide her aging body by using the cosmetics. Actually, the model of this painting is a 19-year-old’s beautiful girl named Ida Rogers. But Albright painted her as an old lady who holds a mirror in one hand and a powder puff in the other hand. She gazes at the mirror whereas the angle of the mirror is strange. It towards to her full of wrinkles’ neck and the empty space behind herself. The oldness and loneliness are shown on the mirror. I suppose she hopes the powder can conceal the damage of time on her. She sits beside a dressing table, there are many old props such as cigarette stub, flowers, money, and comb on the table. Albright paints them in detail. The cigarette stud is still burning which symbolizes the sorrow of the woman. People always compare women to pretty flowers, however, following the passage of time, flowers will fade and die likes human beings. Albright puts money on the table is ironic. Since when people get older, they usually earn more and more money, but the money cannot buy or exchange the fleeting time. There are the remaining three hairs on the teeth between the comb, it is the reminder of woman’s growing white hair. Albright uses the light and shadow carefully and dramatically in the painting. According to the light, the fatty and mottled legs seems weird, they attract viewers attention a lot. The darkness on the background shows the doleful and gloomy emotions of the woman. Albright utilizes the details of the woman in the painting and the ironic contrast between the real Ida and the elderly woman in the painting to reveal the universal fact that the ravage of time is ruthless.

Peter Blume painted the “The Rock” in 1944-48 for the purpose to symbolize the harmful impact to the environment. The medium is oil on canvas. The subject matter is human reconstruction activity of their home. The colors palette is bright. All the figures like the cartoon. People in the painting seem very busy and urgent. There is a huge, red and green broken rock in the center of the painting which corresponds to the tile “The Rock”. Blume painted “The Rock” after the World War II, so the broken rock may represent the bomb during the war. And since the edges of the broken rock are sharp, it represents the harms. On the left side of the painting, there is a simple framework of the new building. People are cutting and carrying the materials to construct the building by using primitive ways and simple tools. However, on the right side of the painting, there is a nearly collapse red-brick’s building. There is a fire in front of the building and smokes surround it. There is an old man who tries to save the building hard. The comparison between the two sides of the painting is the construction and devastation, rebirth and death. Based on the historical background, Blume wants to show the cruel side of the wars, how wars damage the environment and after the wars, people have a tough life since they have no homes to live. Whatever the old men or women, they all need to build the new buildings by themselves difficulty. According to the “The Rock”, Blume tells the ridiculous truths that people launch the wars whereas the effect of the wars is bringing infinite pains to people themselves and nature.

“Flag Day” was painted by the artist Benny Andrews in 1966, it can express the relationship between the black people and American. The medium is oil on canvas. The subject matter is a black man surrounded by the American flag. Andrews uses red, blue, white, black and hazel in the painting. The brushstrokes are rough and sketchy. The man locates in the center of the painting. Andrews paints only one arm of him. He shrugs his shoulder and this gesture can represent the narrowness of the space where he locates. His hand seems like grasping something. The facial expression of him is unclear, it is hard to recognize the emotions of him. The stripes of the flag can be understood as the fence which traps the man in a certain area, maybe in prison. Or the man is nearly overwhelmed by the flag and he struggles to emerge or escape from it. The imageries in the painting are simple, but Andrews states the desires of black men through the composition of the painting. The American flag symbolizes the freedom and democracy. The black man was imprisoned in the jail and he expects to go out, to hugs the freedom and democracy. Relates to the historical background of this painting, it associates with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act prohibits the discrimination on skin colors, races and women. Although the laws started to protect the rights of black people, they still didn’t gain enough respects and equality in the society. Therefore, Andrews paints “Flag Day” as a protest genre, it reminds people to give more regards to the black people.

In conclusion, art is not can fulfill human beings’ visual tastes, but also it can arouse public symphony. It is a reminder to mention the facts which were forgotten or ignored by the public. In addition, art is a mirror which lets people see and recognize the universal truths and hidden information clearly. Artists’ purposes are being the people who hold the mirror toward the public. Since the art starts to raise more and more people attention, the art should have some meaningful and helpful value to the society.