Today I will be giving a visual description of the painting Nurse, Wounded Soldier and Child by William Hatherell constructed in 1915. Being that this is the first time I will be writing a visual description and formal analysis, I ask that you bare with me! With that being said, I chose a painting that I could relate to; nursing.This painting resides in the Imperial War Museum and is a 45.7 x 32.3 cm, oil on canvas.
At first glance, you notice the immediate white, floor length dress of the central figure that seems to stand out compared to the darkness of the background. Marked vividly, in red, is a cross suggesting that she is a nurse.It resides in the middle of her chest. She wears a white medical cap on her head, that has flaps that hang down just below her ears covering most of her blonde hair. Her facial expression seems strong, which seems to be appropriate due to the two figures standing next to her. She supports a young child with her left hand. This young child comes up to about the height of her hip. Her hair is blonde and seems to be in place. She wears a long, orange dress with no shoes. The expression on the child's face is one of sadness or fear. As she leans against the nurse, and lies her head on her, her hands are cupped together just below her face on the nurses leg.
On the left side of the painting, there is a man dressed in an olive green military suit. He is slightly hunched over, putting weight onto a crutch on his right side that he grips strongly with his right hand. It appears that one of this legs is wounded due to him putting all of his weight on his left leg, which is stretched out straight to the ground like normal. The other is pulled back slightly behind his body in a partially bent position. His other arm locks arms with the nurse. He looks to the ground with no facial expression, although you could assume that he is in pain. A white bandage is wrapped around most of his head covering all of his brown hair except for a small part on the very top of his head.
The background of the painting is low keyed, with a dark area taking up half of the picture. The bottom half of the background, which includes the ground that they are standing on,could be considered more middle keyed. It is several different colors of tan, whites, dark yellows, etc. There are no outlines of any figures in the background. Instead, there are several colors mixed together and painted in different directions. It enhances the three characters that stand prominently in the middle, making them the focus of the picture.
Although I do not know the reason for the painting or the message that was supposed to be portrayed, I can relate to the nurse in the middle. I think that she is depicted as strong because she is the support system for the young child and wounded soldier next to her. A nurses responsibility is not only to take care of those in need, but to be a strong figure they can look to and lean on in times of trouble. I can also see her being a beacon of light in a time of darkness, which could have been portrayed by the dark figures all around her, yet she stands out in white.
I can almost imagine the painting without having seen it, Kelsey! Great description of the nurse who even though being surrounded by two people in fear and pain, stands tall and confident, looking ahead.
ReplyDeleteI like that you pointed out that the nurses uniform stands out in the darkness of the painting. I think that is an important point made in this work of art.
ReplyDeleteKelsey, you do a great job of describing the arrangement of the figures and their spatial relationships to each other. You are correct that the artist made the nurse central, by choosing a central position for her, and using white to make her stand out. You also accurately point out how the of the the artist used the simple background to make the figures stand out. This is clearly a WW I painting, and the nurse is used as an image of both healing and strength. I can tell you are emotionally connected to this image through your description. Check the copyright information on the lower left of the image on the link you attached to make sure that posting the image on your blog is fair use.
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