A Reflection at Dawn

Sometimes A mere glance
Hits me like a lance
I drop to the floor
Like a fallen Moor

I think of old times
The wedding bell chimes
And is heard by all
and by you I fall

Yet there is no sound
When I hit the ground
Like a tree downed
If Nothing's around

For all are gone.
I see this mirror
At this very Dawn,
Alone in horror

By Jonathan Gunn

Under the oak tree

I gaze into the sea

While young children live in glee

And bluebirds sing in harmony 

Why do I sit here 

When the world is so near

Yet I do not wish to leer

and scare the children with my sneer

Am I all alone 

Will I rot to the bone, 

Sink into that eternal moan 

Beneath that weathering grey stone

Is there hope to save 

From that approaching grave

Will someone be so very brave 

As to keep me from death a slave

Is there more to life

Than finding a good wife 

One to fill all this sweet strife

So that I may have a good life?

By Jonathan Gunn 

The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso

   The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1903, displays an old man in tattered clothes on the streets of Barcelona. It is an early example of Picasso’s work and was painted during his “blue period,” which was characterized by a prevailing blue color in his paintings. This painting was created during a depressive time in Picasso’s life. (The Old Guitarist, Wikipedia)

    Picasso in this painting was influenced by Post-impressionism, the emphasis on the subjective and geometric forms,  and Symbolism, a rejection of realism and the expression of absolute truths through indirect means.The painting has a blue hue that created a sense of depression and the man’s unhealthy appearance adds to this morbid scenery. The tattered clothes give the viewer a sense of the poverty of this man who is reduced to beggary, and naturally this beggar has a guitar to keep him company. This painting focuses on the loneliness of the beggar and the music that keeps him company, though it is also the force that separates him from others. The background is barren and dark adding to the sense of loneliness. (The Old Guitarist, Wikipedia)

Herioc Symbol by Anselm Keifer

      Heroic Symbol by Anselm Keifer was photographed in 1969 and displays himself giving a sieg heil salute in a barren landscape. Anselm Keifer is a German artist who is often considered a neo-expressionist and alluded to the horrors of Nazi Germany in his works. In this work and in his other pieces from this time period he called for Germans to acknowledge the loss of their culture caused by the xenophobia of the Third Reich. This photograph was part of a series that displayed him giving the seig heil in various locations and poses. (Anselm Keifer, Wikipedia)

       This photograph in black and white creates a contrast between the water and the man thereby putting the focus on the man rather than the environment. The forest in the background is blurred and ominous creating a dark atmosphere. The salute the man is giving is limp and strikes a stark contrast with the sieg heil used at the height of Nazi control. The head of the man is down as if in shame as he gazes into the ripples of the water beneath him . This is symbolic of the shame that the Nazis brought upon Germany and the rippling effect of their actions upon the society. The man is alone in his salute creating an ironic effect: the sieg heil translates as hail victory and yet this photograph displays the utter defeat that the Nazis eventually faced . The man’s loneliness appears to lie in his faithfulness to a fallen cause and his shame in belonging to such a cause. He is alone in his struggle with the past and the shame it still brings him. (Anselm Keifer, Wikipedia)

At Eternity's Gate

    At Eternity’s Gate by Vincent Van Gogh was painted in 1890 just prior to Van Gogh shooting himself and displays a man sitting in a chair burying his face in his hands. Van Gogh was a post-impressionist and extended impressionism, the emphasis on the subjective rather than realism, while rejecting its limitations by emphasizing geometric forms.  Van Gogh was depressive and suffered from mental illness which led to his eventual self-inflicted gunshot wound. This painting reflects the depression and loneliness that he felt in the final days of his life.(Van Gogh, Wikipedia)

    Its use of vivid colors that portray the man are contrasted by the dullness of the background. There is a focus on the man, yet his face can not even be seen. The man is shown as being of old age and wearing monochromatic clothing attracting the attention of the viewer to the face and hands of the man. The man sits alone in a small room devoid of color and there is evoked a sense of loneliness. Not only is this man literally alone, but his posture and expression of depression allude to a deeper loneliness within him. His face is buried into his hands displays a state of utter hopelessness which captures the feelings of the painter at that time. When one looks at this painting they see the unbridled emotions of a man on the brink of suicide and the complete loneliness that he felt at that moment in time. (At Eternity's Gate, Wikipedia)

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

NightHawks by Edward Hopper created in 1942 is a painting that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. The term night-hawk is a term used figuratively to refer to someone who stays up late. Hopper began painting immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the resulting gloominess that was felt across the country was portrayed in the painting. The scene also uses the new invention of fluorescent lights so as to depict an eerie glow on the diner. (Edward Hopper, Wikipedia)

       Hopper uses different techniques to enhance carefully constructed shapes and diagonals, which is a recurring theme in his paintings. The viewpoint is cinematic from the sidewalk as if the viewer is approaching the diner. There is very little interaction between characters adding to the feeling of loneliness. This loneliness is a major theme in this painting and this feeling is instantly stuck into the viewer due to the grim colors and detached characters. The loneliness of the man with his back facing the sidewalk is contrasted by the couple sitting across from him. This contrast allows the viewer to distinguish how this man is even lonely when there are people around. The urban setting also gives the sense that even when one is not alone they can feel alone. (Nighthawks, Wikipedia)



The Scream by Edvard Munch

     The Scream by Norwegian Artist Edvard Munch was painted in 1893 and is an example of an expressionist painting. The scene in the  painting is the view from a road overlooking Oslo, the Oslofjord, and Hovedoya, from the hill of Ekeberg. This painting was an early example of expressionism, and art movement that emphasized the subjective inner feelings of the artist, and was part of a series of paintings by Munch called The Frieze of Life in which he explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety. This painting was part of the pre-WWI anxiety that developed as the looming chaos approached. (Yale Press)
      The painting uses simplified forms and broad bands of garish color while employing a high viewpoint. This technique reduced the figure to a skull in the throes of an emotional crisis where anxiety is instantly instilled into the viewer. This painting also strays from the earlier styles of Munch, Naturalism and Impressionism, by creating a very subjective piece of art that displays the agony of the painter and evokes anxiety. The sexless creature in the foreground emits an infinite scream through nature. (The Scream, Wikipedia)
       The theme of anxiety is resonated in the intense colors that create a hellish background and by the soundless scream that is being emitted by the sexless creature in the foreground. This anxiety is coupled with the loneliness of the figure as it is alone in its throngs of agony as two figures in the top left background spectate from afar. This evokes the sense of the figure being utterly alone and with no hope of another to calm the suffering.(The Scream, Wikipedia)