Sunday, April 8, 2007

Activity 11 - Museum Ekphrasis

March 31, 2007

The painting I am describing is by French Artist Claude Monet. The painting was created in 1880 on an oil canvas located at the National Gallery of Art.

The very bottom of the painting consists of a round and brown table. Since the table is not exactly centered, the bottom and left edges of the table are completely cropped out of the painting. However the rounded right edge of the table is visible at the bottom right corner of the painting.

On the center of the table sits a dark red diamond shaped cloth-textured mat. The mat does not cover the entire table, but most of the table’s center. One corner of the mat points toward the bottom of the painting. The left corner points to the left of the paining and the right corner points to the right. Along the edges of the entire mat are golf ball sized balls along the edge of the entire mat. The color of each ball alternates between green and purple as you follow along the edge of the mat.

Placed on the center of the mat is an off white colored jar. The jar curves inward near its top to form a neck, similar to that of a vase. The curved neck at the top is short compared to overall height of the jar.

Coming from the opening of the jar, stands a tall arrangement of yellow Jerusalem Artichoke flowers and green leaves. The Jerusalem Artichoke resembles the shape and color of a sunflower. At the end of their long stems are thin, yellow, pointed petals formed around a circular golden center. Most of the green leaves are at the bottom of the arrangement, while most the yellow Jerusalem Artichokes are at the top.
Most of the background looks as if it were painted with thick strokes of bluish-grey with a few strokes of pale orange and red disbursed throughout the background

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