My friend can hardly believe I don’t like Bob Dylan’s music. She insists he writes amazing songs, but I never pay much attention to music lyrics or a painting’s symbolism. Does that make me shallow and simplistic? Probably so, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy artwork. Take Archibald J. Motley Jr.’s "Mending Socks" (1924). Motley frequently painted fellow African-Americans to express his own culture. Our campus’s Ackland Art Museum states that “Mending Socks” mirrors his paternal grandmother’s history. However, I find the painting more aesthetically pleasing than introspective. Art critics, please don’t form a lynch mob; remember my opening statement. I am shallow and simplistic (regarding art). Motley combines rich colors and complex three-dimensional objects on a flat canvas to create an aesthetically pleasing painting that doesn’t require the viewer to ponder the piece’s meaning.
Motley combines both warm and cool colors to emphasize certain objects in the painting. His grandmother, Emily Motley, wears a bright red blanket covering her shoulders. The blanket serves as the painting’s brightest object, which draws the viewer’s attention to the focal point, Mrs. Motley. She serves as a positive shape, showing her importance in the painting. To further emphasize the vibrant blanket, Motley surrounds it with neutral colors – the beige wall, the dark brown chair, and her dark skin. To realistically portray his grandmother – wrinkly skin and all – he paints contour lines and adds value. Motley’s painting ability allows him to achieve impressive realism. I like realism more than abstract artwork, which helps explain why I admire the painting. In addition, his grandmother’s peaceful appearance gives the painting a relaxing atmosphere.
Motley then uses contrasting cool colors to draw the viewer’s eye leftward. Here, he paints a table and its blue tablecloth. Motley gives the tabletop objects cool colors as well. The cooler colors don’t overpower the viewer’s eyes and draw the observer away from the more vibrant warm colors found near Mrs. Motley. The tabletop items require Motley to use his full artistic ability. Sure, the more introspective viewer will discuss the symbolism and the object’s importance, like how the objects represent her educated middle-class status, but the casual viewer can enjoy their realistic appearance. To give the objects that life-like quality, he continues with his expert color use to add value and detail. He also reflects the object’s relative proportion as well. The objects all appear to have the correct size and shape, which gives the painting more realistic detail.
The tabletop fruit bowl draws considerable attention. For starters, the silver bowl draws the viewer’s eyes vertically, approaching the fruit. Once there, the bananas, grapes, and oranges create an intensely saturated area. The strong hues contrast the neutral background and silver bowl. When an artist paints fruit, what is the underlying meaning? I challenge someone to tell me it. Motley painted the fruit to provide simple aesthetics – the rich colors please the viewer’s eyes. The bananas also point several different directions, enticing the viewer to continue looking around the painting. The bananas on the right intersect with grapes that hang over the bowl, urging the viewer to look downward, where the reader can study the tabletop items more closely, or follow the fruit bowl back up. The bananas on the left lead the viewer away from the table, where he or she finds a young white woman’s half-revealed portrait.
The Ackland Art Museum claims the portrait depicts the elderly woman’s former mistress. Given the painting’s date, his grandmother would have been old enough to experience slavery. Motley himself entered the world only 25 years after the emancipation. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the aged effect Motley gives the portrait. The colors look somewhat faded, certainly not as distinct as they once were. Any portrait created before the civil war would have aged. To reflect this, Motley uses faded colors, which continue the realism previously established. The mistress’s portrait shows a dignified face, which further contributes to the relaxing atmosphere his grandmother’s portrayal creates.
The mistress’s portrait has significant movement for such a small detail. The mistress’s hair flows curvaceously, nearly reflecting and continuing the lamp’s contour directly beneath. The movement entices the viewer’s eyes throughout the painting, making sure the viewer doesn’t overlook any details. The ovular picture frame creates a smooth path for the viewer to follow, rather than the more abrupt paths rectangular picture frames create. As previously stated, the portrait reflects Motley’s grandmother’s experience as an enslaved woman. I believe the portrait adds aesthetic qualities that enhance the painting’s relaxing experience. Perhaps his grandmother has the painting to remind her that she is now free. That thought strengthens the peaceful mood. Unlike the past, nobody but Mrs. Motley can determine what she does. The mistress’s expression has importance as well. If Motley decided to paint the mistress smiling, the viewer would get caught up wondering why, when no true reason exists. In addition, a smiling mistress would steal the focus from his grandmother, the painting’s most important object. For these reasons, Motley paints the mistress with her simplistic facial expression.
Moving rightward, the viewer’s eyes see Jesus and a crucifix. The statue hangs off the dull wall serving as the background. Motley paints the crucifix in neutral tones, but ensures it remains brighter than its surroundings. I believe religious symbolism is easy to spot in art, music, or literature. I can tell you that Motley paints this object to reflect his grandmother’s strong faith. Studying the cross, the viewer quickly remembers the object’s iconic meaning. Motley paints a light brown wooden color. Mirroring most religious art, Jesus is a brighter color than his surroundings, appearing almost radiant. Once again, aesthetics arise, but this time through symbolism. Jesus and the crucifix’s enlightened appearance, as well as the underlying meaning, enhance the painting’s relaxing atmosphere. The artifact reminds a Christian viewer life’s purpose, and they are not alone. For the non-Christian viewer, the cross will not mean nearly as much, but the objects aesthetic qualities do not end there. The cross’s distinctive shape draws the viewer’s eyes vertically first, then horizontally. If you decide to follow it vertically, you will find yourself studying his grandmother again. Move your eyes horizontally, and you will see a door.
Now how can a door be so important? Well, it isn’t. The door merely serves as a background object. However, the door’s design returns the viewer’s eyes back to the starting point. Spend enough time observing “Mending Socks” and you will realize the exact middle’s emptiness. All the objects create a ring encompassing the empty center, drawing the viewer’s eyes circularly around the painting.
If you read my blog, you know I appreciate Chuck Close’s larger-than-life portraits. His portraits have been criticized because they have little emotion or introspection. I do not hold their emotional shortcomings against them. Instead, I opt to like their aesthetic qualities and amazing photo-like detail. Motley’s paintings tell a different story. I won’t deny Motley paints emotion, introspection, and symbolism in his work, but I urge art viewers to not always analyze art so strictly. If a painting lacks emotion and introspection, don’t immediately discredit it. There’s still good enough reason to like they way it looks.
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