A study by means of an oil painting of the inherent integration and disintegration of a family

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A STUDY BY MEANS OP AN OIL PAINTING OF THE INHERENT INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION OF A FAMILY

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Institute of the Arts University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Fine Arts

by Kara Crocker August 1950

UMI Number: EP57886

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This thesis, w ritte n by ............... KM4..CH0CKER............. under the guidance of h.$T— F a c u lty C o m m ittee, and app ro ved by a l l its members, has been presented to and accepted by the C o u n cil on G raduate S tudy and Research in p a r t ia l f u l f i l l ­ ment of the requirements f o r the degree of

Master of Fine Arts

n„,„August 1950

ilty Committee

Chairman

TABLE OP CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

II.

PAGE

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OP TERMS USED . . .

1

The p r o b l e m .............................

1

Statement of the problem ................

1

Importance of the s t u d y ................

1

Definition of terms u s e d ..................

2

Family .................................

2

Integration

............................

2

Disintegration ..........................

3

Organization of the remainder of the thesis.

3

REVIEW OF OTHER PAINTINGS DONE ON

THE

SUBJECT OF THE F A M I L Y .................... Religious

.............................

IV.

4

Family portraits ........................

4

Illustrational ..........

6

Social .................................

6

Formal .................................

7

Primitive

7

.............................

Recent painting III.

4

........................

METHOD OF PROCEDURE AND MATERIALSUSED . . . .

8 27

Method of p r o c e d u r e ......................

27

Materials u s e d ...........................

28

THE EXPERIMENT..............................

29

i i i

CHAPTER V.

PAGE S U M M A R Y ......................................

36

CjT'clic c h a n g e ............................

36

Disintegration ............................

36

I n t e g r a t i o n ..............................

36

Concept of a f a m i l y .....................

37

T e n s i o n ..................................

37

T i m e ......................................

37

LIST OP PLATES

PLATE I.

PAGE The Holy Family, Angolo Bronzino, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna ..........

II.

The Holy Family, El Greco, The Cleveland Museum of Art, C l e v e l a n d ........................

III.

.............................

12

Herr Van Leer and Family, Anthony Van Dyck, Cassel Gallery ...........................

VI.

13

The Family of King Charles IV, Goya, Prado, M a d r i d ...................................

VII.

14

Michel Gerard and His Family, David, Le Mans M u s e u m .............................

VIII.

13

Family group, Copley, Museum of Fine Arts, B o s t o n ...................................

IX.

16

The Washington Family, Edward Savage, National Museum of Art, Washington, D. C.

X.

.

17

Breaking Home Ties, Thomas Hovenden, Collection Unknown ........................

XI.

11

The Artist's Family, Steen, Mauritshuis, The Hague

V.

10

Family of El Greco, El Greco, Collection Theodore Pitcairn, Bryn Athyn, Pa..........

IV.

9

18

The Potato-eaters, Van Gogh, Delft, H. Tutein Nolthenius...............................

19

V

PLATE XII.

PAGE The Poor on the Seashore, Picasso, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., Chester Dale Loan Collection......................

XIII.

Portrait de la Famille Bellilli, Degas, Louvre Museum, Paris ......................

XIY.

21

La Famille du Peintre Emile Schuffencher, Gauguin, Collection Particuliere ..........

XV.

20

22

Family of Saltimhanques, Picasso, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chester Dale Loan Collection................................

XVI.

The Artist’s Family, Canade, Weyhe Gallery, New Y o r k ..................................

XVII.

24

The Painter’s Family, Severini, Collection U n k n o w n ..................................

XVIII.

23

25

Interior--In our Shack, Bernard Karfiol, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D. C .......................................

26

XIX.

Black-and-white sketch .....................

39

XX.

Color s k e t c h ...............................

40

Black-and-white sketch ...........

4l

XXI. XXII.

Color s k e t c h ................................

42

XXIII.

Color sketch ................................

43

XXIV.

Large color sketch ..........................

44

XXV.

Final painting..............................

45

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED As the basic and most important of all social groups of society the family has a universality of symbolic mean­ ing with psychological, sociological, and biological rami­ fications which is a challenge to the painter who seeks to represent this institution through the use of formal art elements.

I.

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the problem.

It was the purpose of

this oil painting to present graphically the universal con­ cept of the family with its inherent integrating and dis­ integrating forces.

This was to be done without sentimen­

tality, but with a selection of symbols, color, and spatial organization which would minimize the illustrational and emphasize the changing quality of the family. Importance of the study. Heretofore, little emphasis has been given in painting to the psychological nature of a family.

This subject has been treated either as a group

portraiture of a specific family, as a genre study of family activity, or as a static fixed group.

The family, as a

primary unit of society, created by society, has in itself

2

at the moment of its inception forces which work for its continuance as a tightly bound emotional group as well as forces which work for its disintegration from this primary group: the forces of time, growth, uneven conflict in that

and death.

It is an

the result is predestined despite

the great strength of emotional ties and the security of a known group.

In a sense, a family represents cyclic

change--the dissolving of one family and the evolution of a new family.

The purpose of this project was then to show

the idea of a family as a continually changing institution rather than a fixed static one.

II.

DEFINITION OF TERMS USED

With the exception of the following, those tech­ nical and subjective terms used in this thesis whose mean­ ing is in any way ambiguous will be defined in the footnotes when they occur. Family. For the primary American family

purpose of this painting,

the

group from a sociologist’s point of

view was used, that is, a group composed of parents and dependent children. Integration.

As used in relation to the family,

integration refers to those social and biological bonds

3

that differentiate a family group from other groups. Disintegration.

As used in relation to the family,

disintegration refers to the breaking up of a family as a unified whole; for example, when with maturity a child leaves the security of the family group to face an untested world.

III.

ORGANIZATION OF THE REMAINDER OF THE THESIS

Chapter II will investigate the approaches, both ideological and formal, of other paintings to the subject of the family. Chapter III describes the method of procedure and materials used in the painting of this picture. Chapter IV is the documentation of the experimental procedure as it took place. Chapter V is the author1s summary and conclusions drawn from this investigation.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF OTHER PAINTINGS DONE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FAMILY The number of ’’Holy Families” and ’’Family Groups” that have been painted is so great that no attempt will be made here to ennumerate them.

This chapter is concerned

primarily with the different approaches that have been made to this subject material. Religious. This approach was practically the only one for many centuries and one which has held and caught the imagination of painters up to the present time.

These

’’Holy Families” sire religious concepts with the emphasis being usually placed on the holy mother-child relationship. A complex religious iconography is often used in portraying these idealized religious types, and there is a lack of specificity in these portraits, even though quite often actual people were used as models.

In this paper the

religious approach is illustrated by "The Holy Family" by Angolo Bronzino (Plate I), and by El Greco’s "The Holy Family” (Plate II). Family portraits. This approach together with the religious one form the dominant trends in "family” paintings. This approach arose with the advent of more secular forms

5

of art when painters were commissioned to paint family por­ traits of the nobility and wealthy bourgeoisie.

These

family portraits were of specific individuals living at a specific time and place.

For example, the family groups

painted by El Greco show much more realism and less mysti­ cism than do the many "Holy Families" that he painted. This can be seen by comparing his painting "Family of El Greco" (Plate III) with his "The Holy Family" (Plate II). This regard for the actual, the specific, the individual, is the common denominator of this type of painting. The approach towards these secular family portraits differed, of course, with each artist and school. the various ways are noted below.

Some of

The Dutch School, as

illustrated here by Steen’s "The Artist’s Family" (Plate IV), attempted to portray the family’s activities as well as the appearance of its members.

A more formal grouping

of the members of the family and a greater interest in pulchritude and richness of costume was evinced by Anthony Van Dyck (see Plate V) of the Late Flemish School, who so greatly influenced the English School of portraiture. Others, such as Goya in his "The Family of King Charles IV" (Plate VI), used the setting, clothes, jewels, and posture, not for the purpose of flattery, but for the purpose of accurate characterization.

The Neo-Classical School in

France, under the influence of David (see Plate VII),

6

followed a severe three-dimensional form of portraiture. The influence of the English ideal of elegant beauty can be seen in "Family Group" by Copley (Plate VTIl).

However,

the American Colonial painter attempted on the whole to present an accurate study of the individuals of a family, in addition to the business, hobbies, and material wealth of the families as illustrated here by "The Washington Family" by Edward Savage (Plate IX).

This honesty of

expression was lost sight of in the 19th century when such painters as Eastman Johnson were almost entirely over­ whelmed by the prosperity of their patrons. Compositionally, these family portraits are usually painted grouped around a table, a room, or lined up on the frontal plane of the picture.

Every member of the family

occupies equal importance in the canvas, but the family as an emotional or institutional unit is not portrayed. Illustrational.

In the 19th century, with the advent

of cheap printing processes and popular illustrated maga­ zines, sentimental and nostalgic paintings of family activities began to appear, such as "Breaking Home Ties" by Thomas Hovenden (Plate X). Social.

In such paintings, the emphasis is placed

upon the social conditions rather than the family.

In Van

Gogh’s "The Potato-eaters" (Plate XI), the family is not a

7

specific group "but rather the symbol of depressed people. This same de-emphasis of specific individuals can be found in Picasso*s "The Poor on the Seashore" (Plate XII).

The

rather small number of family groups to be found in this category suggests that the social painter was not primarily interested in the family group as such, but in the social conditions surrounding it and simply used it as one of his many means of voicing social protest such as Daumier and Millet did with individuals and groups of people. Formal.

In this approach there is a lessening of

the specific in favor of the more formal aspects of the canvas.

However, as long as the people are specific indi­

viduals such as in "Portrait de la Famille Bellilli" by Degas (Plate XIII), and Gauguin*s "La Famille du Peintre Emile Schuffencher" (Plate XIV), specificity remains even within an increasing formal emphasis.

This specificity is

lessened in such paintings as Picasso’s "Family of Saltimbanques" (Plate XV), as he does not attempt the por­ trayal of individuals. Primitive.

In many of the primitives, the idea of

the family as a unit, not as a group of individuals, is achieved by a decorative repetition of like-appearing portraits.

This can be seen in "The Artist*s Family" by

Canade, a 20th century Italian-American primitive (see

8

Plate XVI).

This same decorative repetition of likenesses

is also used by some modern artists to achieve family unity such as by the Italian painter, Gino Severini in "The Painter’s Family" (Plate XVII). Recent painting.

In this century the family, per se,

Is rarely used as the subject for a painting other than in commissioned family portrait groups.

When otherwise used,

the family serves only as a means of creating a mood or achieving formal organization of a canvas.

In Bellows1

"The Fisherman’s Family", as much interest is reflected in the mood of the sea as in the family itself.

Karfiol’s

"Interior--In Our Shack" (Plate XVIII) does not emphasize the family, but rather the mood. It may be said that most of the painters today make use of the family as subject material for either its formal aspects or to emphasize an emotional content or social statement.

PLATE I THE HOLY FAMILY Angolo Bronzino

PLATE II THE HOLY FAMILY El Greco

PLATE III FAMILY OF EL GRECO El Greco

F A M IL Y OF EL G RECO Collection Theodore Pitcairn, B ry n A thyn, Pa.

PLATE IV THE ARTIST'S FAMILY Steen

T H E A R T IS T ’ S F A M IL Y MAURITSHUIS, THE HAGUE

STEEN. DUTCH

162b— 1679 SCHOOL

13

PLATE V HERR VAN LEER AND FAMILY Anthony Van Dyck

HERR

VAN

LEER AN C

FA M ILY

G a lle ry , C ai& el

T H E U N IV E R S IT Y P R IN T S BOSTON

ANTHONY

VAN

DYCK.

LA “ E FLE M IS H

TE99— 164'

SCHOOL

14

PLATE VT THE FAMILY OF KING CHARLES IV Goya

UNIVERSITY

THE

PRINTS, BOSTON

F A M IL Y

OF

PRADO, m a t r i u

GOYA. S P A N IS H

1746— 1828

KlfSlG CH A R LES

IV

PLATE VTI MICHEL GERARD AND HIS FAMILY David

UNIVERSITY

PRINTS,

BOSTON

M IC H E L GERARD A N D MUSEUM,

D AVID.

LE

MANS

1748— 1825

HIS

F A M IL Y

PLATE VIII FAMILY GROUP Copley

UNIVERSITY

F A M IL Y MUSEUM

PRINTS,

ROSTON

GROUP

OF FINE ARTS,

COPLEY.

1737— 1815

ROSTON

17

PLATE IX THE WASHINGTON FAMILY Edward Savage

the

Wa s h

NATIONAL. GAl

EDW ARD

in g t o n LRY

Or

:

SAVAGE.

A M E R IC A N

f a m il y

ART,

SCH O O L

WASHINGTON

1761-----1817

18

PLATE X BREAKING HOME TIES Thomas Hovenden

19

PLATE XI THE POTATO-EATERS Van Gogh

20

PLATE XII THE POOR ON THE SEASHORE Picasso

16]

T H E PO O R O N T H E SEASHORE.' 1903 National Gallery of A rt, Washington, D.C. Chester Dale Collection. Loan

21

PLATE XIII PORTRAIT DE LA FAMILLE BELLILLI Degas

PHOTO B R A C K

18.

P o r tr a it

ve

la

fa m ii.le

B e llilli

(1860-1862) Musca du Louvre

22

PLATE XIV LA FAMILLE DU PEINTRE EMILE SCHUFFENCHER Gauguin

23

PLATE XV FAMILY OF SALTIMS ANQUE S Picasso

24

PLATE’XVI THE ARTIST'S FAMILY Canade

25

PLATE XVII THE PAINTER’S FAMILY Severini

k

i;

%

ll

f! t, m

$; y iif* .hi

*1

'3

D !

PLATE XVIII INTERIOR--IN OUR SHACK Karfiol

CHAPTER III

METHOD OF PROCEDURE AND MATERIALS USED I.

METHOD OF PROCEDURE

The following procedure was used in the painting of the family: 1.

A number of black-and-white and color sketches

were made In which a general color scheme and design organi­ zation were evolved. 2.

Various formal aspects were investigated: per­

spective as a unifying element; study of rhythm and spacing in regard to showing of time and movement; study of opposing forms; investigation of color, facial, and body types. 3.

Color sketches were made incorporating the above

investigations. 4.

A large canvas, size 36 x 42, was blocked off in

specific areas according to the color sketch selected. 5.

Full size sketches of people and background

objects were made from models and by use of photographic references. 6.

These sketches were then transferred to the

appropriate area on the canvas and the complete composition carefully worked out in charcoal. 7.

After the charcoal was fixed, the color scheme

was lightly washed in so that the painting of individual

28 figures or objects could be made in relation to the color tonality as a whole. 8.

The actual painting of the picture then pro­

ceeded with the use of models whenever possible.

II.

MATERIALS USED

Permanent oil pigments in a limited color range were used.

Use was also made of live models, photographs of

houses, etc.

Photographs were also taken of the various

sketches made in the investigation of this problem.

CHAPTER IV THE E X P E R I M E N T According to the p r o c e d u r e outlined in the prece d i n g chapter the author ma d e a numb e r of b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e and color sketches in wh i c h various ways for the solution of the p r o b l e m cited in Chapter I were sought. g a t i o n took two directions.

This i n v e s t i ­

The first d i r e c t i o n was an

attempt to solve the p r o b l e m w i t h p erspective as the p r i n ­ cipal motif.

The second d i r e c t i o n u s e d a circular m o t i f

w ith greater emphasis on the emotional tension. The first d i r e cti o n sought the solution through the means of direct perspective.

It was h o p e d that by placing

the family In direct p er s p e c t i v e at r h y t h m i c a l l y spaced intervals there might be set to m o t i o n a feeling of time as the mot i v a t i n g force causing the d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of the family,

and at the same time the direct line of per s p e c t i v e

w o u l d also serve as an i n tegrating force ho l d i n g the fam i l y together.

A number of sketches were made inves t i g a t in g

this direction.

The foll o w i n g examples are i l l ustrative of

this phase of the investigation. In one of the first sketches

(Plate XIX)

the basic

p r i n ciple of the first d i r e c t i o n alone was used.

The p e r ­

spective motif made a diagonal m o v e m e n t from the lower left to the upper right of the sketch. m a t u r i n g child,

The foremost figure,

mov i n g away w i t h a b a c k w a r d look,

is

the

30 followed in direct perspective b y an adolescent child p a s ­ sively gazing out of the picture and,

in turn,

is follo w e d

up the diagonal created b y the p e r s p e c t i v e by the mother and father seated together wa t c h i n g the m a t u r i n g child depart,

and fi n a l l y b y a house u s e d as a symbol of family

security.

This composition was on the whole a static one.

The only mo v e m e n t outside of that i n t r oduced b y the r h y t h m set up by the spacing of the figures was the forward m o v e ­ ment of the m a t u r i n g child.

It was f e l t in this sketch that

there was a lack of balance in the formal aspects since there was no counteracti n g force to the strong diagonal

set

up by the family. In another sketch (Plate X X ), an attempt was made to keep this perspective as the p r incipal un i f y i n g and d i s ­ integrating force and,

at the same time,

to b alance the

composition b y use of other formal elements.

To do this,

a

fence was used to cut through the angle set up by the f a m i l y in perspective;

and to keep the eye fr o m going out of the

composition at the end of this p e r s p e c t i v e line, was pulled b a c k into an opposing direction.

the house

Trees were

i ntroduced in an attempt to aid in the rhythm. Another attempt

(Plate XXI) bro u g h t the entire c o m ­

po s i t i o n closer to the picture p l ane in order to create more emphasis up o n the ma t u r i n g child,

and to integrate the

composition more complete l y the spacing b e t w e e n the members

31 of the fam i l y was closed still further.

A w o o d e n fence was

u sed to counteract the p r incipal directional line of the family,

and the house was p l a c e d at the apex of the triangle

created by the diagonal lines of the fami l y and fence to stop the eye and force it down again.

Hori z o n t a l shadows

across the bot t o m of the sketch were i n t r oduced to f o r m the base of the triangle so the eye could continue around this form. A sketch was made to i n v e s tigate the rhythmic p o s s i ­ bilities

(Plate X X I I ).

In this the left to right diagonal

of the figures was retained,

but the spacing of the figures

was e m p h asized b y use of an opposing diagonal of spaced houses,

b y a movement across

telephone poles and wires, b y us i n g contour lines. this sketch,

the

sky b y means of spacing

of

and a m o v e m e n t down the picture

Th e use of so m a n y r e p e t itions in

while i ncre a s i n g the rhythmic content,

pushed

the sketch towards the decorative. It was p o inted out b y thesis committee that all of

the

chairman of the a u t h o r fs

the sketches made u n der the

first d i r e ction skirted the emotional stress inherent in such a situation,

and that the c o u n t eracting formal means

were not strong enough to ba l a n c e the strong directional pull of the family in perspective.

So,

at his suggestion,

another direction was investigated. This second direc t i o n was one away f r o m per s p e c t i v e

32 as the principal unifyin g and d i s i n t e g r a t i n g force and towards a circular movement,

a greater i n t e g ration of the

formal elements of the picture,

and more emphasis upon the

emotional tension created b y the d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of the family.

A number of black-a n d - w h i t e sketches were made in

this direction. bilities,

One of these wa s selected as h a v i n g p o s s i ­

and a small color sketch was ma d e f r o m it (Plate

XXIII). In this color sketch, tive,

in s t e a d of a straight p e r s p e c ­

a circular perspective was used.

The dominant figure

is the m a t u r i n g child leaving the f a m i l y group and looking b a c k towards the parents and home; movement,

next,

in a clockwise

the static figure of the adolescent;

who Is farthest fr o m the observer;

and the mother,

aid of the gesture of the departing child, circle.

the father, who by

completes the

The house In the b a c k g r o u n d was still used s y m ­

bolically,

and trees were added to c o u n teract the d i r e c ­

tional m o v ement of the m a t u r i n g child out of the picture. In this sketch it was felt that the us e of the complete figures of the family created too m u c h emphasis u p o n the foreground and distracte d the eye,

so it was decided that

in the next step the entire group w o u l d be m o v e d nearer the picture plane. With this sketch as a basis a larger color sketch was made

(Plate XXIV).

In this the color was investigated

33 more fully.

To emphasize the emotional conflict,

contrast of light and dark was used. were u s e d for the light effects;

Cold greens and blues

the intermediate range was

pre d o m i n a t e l y warm b rown s an d earth reds; were greens,

blues,

and black.

a strong

and the darks

The light source came from

the direction to which the dominate figure was moving. trees,

as not essential to the composition,

and the house,

The

were eliminated,

which b y man n e r of placement ha d ass u m e d too

m u c h importance as a house and not as a symbol, m i z e d b y placing it behi n d the family. of these two color sketches,

was m i n i ­

D u r i n g the progress

charcoal and pencil studies

were made from models to be used in the fi n i s h e d painting. In painting the final canvas the author,

believing

that beneficial compositional changes could still be made, did not attempt to simply enlarge the color sketch,

but

used it as a stepping stone to a further i n v e s t igation of the problem. The final paintin g can be divided into three m a i n stages of development.

In the first stage the author made

a detailed drawing of the c o m p o sition in charcoal and, after the charcoal was fixed,

w a s h e d in the color to suggest

the colors to be used and the play of light and dark. paint was applied, noticed.

After

a n um b e r of- compositional faults were

The adolescent b o y at this time was looking to

his right and out of the picture away from the family,

giving

34 the feeling that he too was leaving the fami l y group. mother,

while

painting,

The

still in the same p o s i t i o n as in the finished

was sitting calmly w i t h no emotional rapport to

the departing child.

The father was near e r the m o t h e r and

completely f illed the space b e t w e e n m o t h e r and daughter, giving rise to a feeling of two-dimensionality.

The house,

which was b r ought over to fill the space in the u p per righthand part of the picture,

was too p r o m i n e n t and carried too

m u c h importance as a specific house rather than a symbol, and the sky with its horizontal clouds gave too m u c h weight to the upper por t i o n of the picture. Th e second stage involved correcting these formal errors.

The b o y was turned to look at the family.

By

gesture the m o t h e r establ i s h e d an emotional affinity be tween h e rself and the departing child.

The father was

moved b a c k toward the center of the picture, of a circular and three-dimensional movement.

creating more The house

was changed ba c k to the p o s i t i o n it ha d occupied in the largest color sketch and became more of a symbol than a specific house. minimized,

The horizontal m o v e m e n t of the sky was

b e i n g b r o k e n into color patte r n s and gradations

which fa i n t l y emphasized the m o v e m e n t s of the family group below. The third stage was c oncerned with the unifying of painting technique.

Several different paint i n g styles were

no t i c e d and pointed out b y the chairman of the author's thesis committee.

Inasm u c h as the author b e l i e v e d that

this diversity of style was created b y interest in specific areas of the painting due to the n u m b e r of changes that were made,

the central figure was selected as least changed

fr o m the original conception,

and the rest of the canvas

was r e p a i n t e d in the technique *set b y this figure. The finished p a i n t i n g

(Plate XXV) was little changed

in conception from the last color sketch. essent i a l l y the same, lar.

The color was

and the p a i n t i n g technique was s i m i ­

The changes were m i n o r compositional ones in p l a c e ­

ment of the figures and in an i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n of the emotional interaction b e t w e e n the m o t h e r and m a t u r i n g child.

CHAPTER V SUMMARY In recapitulation,

the author w o u l d like to examine

this pai n t i n g in rel a t i o n to the p r o b l e m It attem p t e d to solve and certain technical aspects that such a study brought forth. The author h a d Intended b y graphic means to solve the pr o b l e m of p o r t rayin g the f a m i l y with its inherent I n ­ tegrating and disintegra t i n g forces.

E l e m e n t s in this

situation and their attempted solution in this painting are as follows. Cyclic c h a n g e .

The formal m e a n s u s e d was the e x p a n d ­

ing circular m o v e m e n t composed of the mother, adolescent,

father,

the

and the matu r i n g child.

Disintegration.

It was h o p e d that the circular

movement wo u l d have enough force to give r e a s o n for the propelling of the m a t uri n g child f r o m the f a m i l y group. Integration. in this, circle,

The circular m o t i f also plays a part

but a lesser role,

as It is an e v e r - widening

and the thrust out is stronger than the movem e n t

ba c k into the canvas.

The principal I n t e g r a t i o n means was

to be obtained b y the gesture of the child loo k i n g ba c k

37 and the emotional r a ppor t b e t w e e n m o t h e r and child. Concept of a f a m i l y .

An attempt was made to keep

the f amily from being specific i n d i v iduals or mem b e r s of a specific region.

To do this,

the sketches made for the

individual members were u s e d only as points of reference, and not copied for their specific types.

Similar pa i n t i ng

techniques and repeti t i o n of colors in the p a i n t i n g of the figures aided in the fee l i n g of a fam i l y group. ma t t e r of regional!ty,

In the

type of dress was minimized,

house was not defined architecturally,

and the

but suggested in the

b a c k g r o u n d as a s y m b o l . Tension. of gestures, Time.

This the author attem p t e d to obtain b y use

strong lights and darks,

and violent color.

The author w i s h e d to introduce in the pa i n ti n g

the element of time as one of the m o t i v a t i n g forces in the problem.

It is not b e l i e v e d that this was successfully

introduced. The author realizes that the ultimate decision as to whether or not and to what degree the challenge p r e s e n t e d b y the p r o b l e m was successfully me t in this pa i n t i n g rests to a great degree upon the perso n a l analysis of the i n d i ­ vidual observer. In the solution of the m a n y technical problems that

38 arose in the progress of this i n v e s t i g a t i o n came the rea l i z a t i o n on the part of the author that the procedure followed on the final canvas was not the prop e r one for the author*s manner of expression and degree of ability. the attempt to be accurate and precise, first and p a inted last.

the author drew

In other words,

too m u c h importance in the b e g i n n i n g and, interest in the particulars,

details were of out of this

sight was lost of the b r o a d

painting aspects of the picture. to correct this,

In

A n attempt was made later

but it is b e l i e v e d that a great deal of

spontaneity was lost because of this reversal of the author*s usual m anner of working. In conclusion,

the author f u l l y realizes that there

is no one pa t t e r n of fami l y integr a t i o n and disintegration, and that at best this canvas can only r e p r e s e n t one of the ma n y a ction patterns a family m i g h t take.

39

PLATE XIX BLACK'-AND-WHITE SKETCH

PLATE XX COLOR SKETCH

PLATE XXI BLACK-AND-WHITE SKETCH

PLATE XXII COLOR SKETCH

^3

PLATE XXIII COLOR SKETCH

PLATE XXIV LARGE COLOR SKETCH

^5

PLATE XXV PINAL PAINTING