Merritt Commenting On War

ANNA LEA MERRITT'S WAR (1883)

Seems as though it represents something through eyes of despair. As it is titled War, and the time stamp suggests this further, the painting may be about the less glorified side of war through the 'eyes' of the family. In this piece, their eyes, posture, and clustered position in front of the columns say the most to the viewer. Their eyes, all large and enticing, show sadness, worry and fear. All with a wedding ring they look intently around and at each other, grimacing and worrying. They are all dressed to the nines and their hair is braided into an up-do. To the left, we see a crowded street, with men marching off to war possibly, and many banisters in the distance filled with people. A women on the right, who seems to be a center of this piece, as many are looking in her direction, and the child underneath are both holding antique pieces tightly, maybe something of significance of her spouses she's clinging to. The women's dress on the right is also colored slightly differently than the others and it seems her look is slightly more intense. It is also harder to read. Maybe the author was trying to exemplify her own thoughts on war through the painting, and even more specifically put herself into the piece through this women. I feel this character holds a more powerful message than the others in the piece -- almost like she's the wolf in the heard of sheep. Moving forward, it's interesting that in the Madea piece, discusses in my previous blog post, we encountered a representation which was made to evolve society's understanding of women while Merritt's painting seems to render the gender roles of the time as 'appropriate'. She's filling women's roles accurately for the time, rather than stretching for something more evolved (she seems comfortable with it), while making a clear comment on the negative afflictions war brought the family. The last aesthetic detail that seems vital is actually that there is a child clinging to her mother's arm. The reason this is critical is because it references that family is an important aspect of the message I believe. Without the child present my assumptions my have taken a different direction. The entire piece is heart wrenching and powerful and it would be enlightening to understand the author's try intentions.