A Sampler of Non-Western Arts and Culture
Part 2
Virxilio Vieitez, La Familia, Spain, 1958/2009
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425989096/138083/virxilio-vieitez-la-familia.html
My very favorite thing about this photograph, besides the fact that it is a group family shot, is the little girl in the front. I love the way she is posing for the camera with her skirt splayed out. When I first looked at this work, she initially caught my eye. As I looked at each of the family members, I kept coming back to the cute little girl in the dress. I also enjoy the simplicity of this scene, the plain family table, and the bare hanging light bulb. The forced half-smiles are reminiscent of the type of family gathering that we have all experienced at some point or another in our lives. As always, I was drawn to the beauty of black and white photograph, and the way it tells a story. It would be great to see a shot of the same group 10 or 20 years later.
3 comments
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July 30, 2010 at 3:10 am
christopher.d
your posts are always so impressive! I think it is really neat how she is posed. I think their facial expressions are neat. I like how the mother is still attentive to her child. and the oldest isn’t really sure what to do. very neat.
July 31, 2010 at 11:06 pm
tknight8blog
This photo is very fascinating, and I agree that the little girl does indeed pull you in more than the rest of the family. What I find interesting about this photo, is that the little girl is the only person who appears to be trying to draw the audience in – the rest of the family, in their half-smiling manner, appear to be completely disengaged as to what is going on around them. This reminds me strongly of Velazquez’s Las Meninas – perhaps only because the little girl is the one that pulls the audience in just as the princess does in the 17th century painting. However, I agree that it would have been fascinating to have seen another family photo of this group ten or twenty years later. Good job providing another non-western piece!
August 1, 2010 at 9:48 pm
danielleburke
I enjoyed reading your blog. The little girl in the dress in the changes this image drastically. Without her, I do not believe anything would really standout in this image. It is hard to tell what this family was gathered together for because nothing in this image seems to distinguish whether they are together for a party or just because. Being able to use my imagination makes art more interesting to me, which why I like this image because it makes me think and wonder why this family is gathered together.