The Woman in White and the meanings hidden in a masterpiece

 

In this article,  Beverly D’Silva is analysing colour white in paintings- especially from the James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece- “Woman in white” from the 1861. The model was Joanna Hiffernan- and she wasn't only a muse to the artist, but also a companion.

On the painting, we can see a woman in some sort of the white gown with big eyes and long, copper, hair hanging loose. A lot of the art critics were trying to find out the meaning behind colour white- masterpiece has a lot of it!



The most reasonable idea was that model’s white garment is linked with the purity, morality, heaven, virginity, faith, perfection. This thesis is supported by the work  of Dante's – “The Divine Comedy”- when we were rising to heaven, it gets brighter and brighter- there's one conclusion whiteness associates with heaven and heaven associates with purity. Despite heaven, colour white is also linked with many religious as the transitional stage.

 There were also another explanations- for example during the Victorian era white was connected to ghosts and phantoms (“The Somnamnbulist” from 1871).



Beside the art whiteness also has a great history. In the early 1900s, white became a symbol of suffragettes, a women who were fighting for the rights. For example Emmeline Pankhurst, known as a leader of the Women's Social and Political Union, where wore white garments as the manifest to promote her activity.

 Personally I think that the colour white has a lot of explanations that are very interesting. In many  aspects of life we see colours, especially art. On daily basis we don't notice their existence in our in our life, so I think it's really important to remember that they can leave a strong message- as for the suffragettes. As a matter of fact, every colour has its meaning. From the apps, to the colour of the food that we are eating. Not only in the art, but in our daily life.

 I really like the idea of symbolism in art and I really like this article show me that kind of symbolism.



https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220217-the-woman-in-white-the-meanings-hidden-in-a-masterpiece

Comments

  1. englishdiary13 March 2022 at 06:53

    Isn't white also a colour of death - one of a few at least?
    Look again at this sentence: "DESPITE heaven, colour white is also linked with many religions as the transitional stage" - 'despite' is not used correctly, you should use APART FROM.
    I don't want to restrict you too much but remember that these posts have a word limit - 150 words.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Jane Austen can teach us about resilience

Image
      Jane Austen is one of the pioneer in world literature. Her "Pride and Prejudice" is also one of the most famous book in the Europe. When I heard about her for the first time, I thought of her as a calssic romantic writer- with beautiful language and a great story. It lasted for a long time till i got "Pride and Prejudice"- which I finished in one sitting. I just couldn't get my eyes from the book- and it wasn't about romance that she wrote abou but also the vibe that the book gave me. After reading this article, I see her in much better lighting- not only as a taleneted woman but also as an excellent observer. Personally, I rode only one of her book and I watched the movie "Sense and Sensibilty", so I know what is it about. But as far as I got to know her works (or work because of one book), she was always interesting, so she was quite often on my mind. I always wanted to find an explanation what exactly I like about her, but atr first I was ...
Read more

Orientalism in fashion :)

Image
        ORIENTALISM IN FASHION Asian culture is source of inspiration for fashion designers since 17th century. The influence of this continet on Europe was vast! It begun beacuse the import of things from Asian culture increased, like Chinese ceramics or tulips from Turkey to Holland. Also brewed leaf, known as a tea, was unfamiliar to Europe. There were new materials, patterns and accesories in fashion that many people started to use. It all came to our continent from 17th to 19th centuries. Orientalism has its beginnig in Gothic and Barrocco. European style was mixed with new, Japanese, for example, old-fashioned robes were worn with oriental floral motifs (the symbolic flower was chrysanthemum). A lot of women wore  column dresses made of kashmir, famous material from India. Many costumes for plays in theaters, ballets was inspired by fashion in Arabia and Persia. Also " A Thousand and One Nights" became famous, so many of this costumes was inspired by asian...
Read more

Sylvia Plath: Will the poet always be defined by her death?

Image
  When I was scrolling throught the page of the BBC Culture, I had no idea what should I write about. So I became really happy, when I noticed article about Sylvia Plath- the writer, who wrote one of my favourite books- „The Bell Jar”. The fact that Sylvia Plath commited suicide, covers her entire career. Most of the critics see her as the one who is doomed to tragedy- like if her whole life, from the beginning had only one ending. Plath became ac icon of rebellious but deppressed woman- her main character in the story, Esther Greenwood is also described in thgis way. It is even more concerning that Plath created Esther as her alter-ego. Her works are linnked in a one way or another with life and death, suffering in everyday life. She is constantly questioning the meaning of life and what people should do with it. But I noticed that if a reader is focusing on the dark side of the Plath’s book and poetry, they are missing one thing- the fact that she is also showing the little drops...
Read more