Sarah is standing in a harvested corn field while holding the back of a dining room chair. She is solitary, no one else is with her. A single home is in the background and two other buildings stand resolutely.
The sky is painted with a knife, as is the cornfield. The artist does not know what the painting means.
Comments on Sarah Standing In a Field
Cool painting. Maybe the chair in the harvested cornfield symbolizes old age, and Sarah’s serious gaze shows worry about getting old. (See, I can make things up as well as any art historian!)
My favorite parts are the chair (great reflections of the sky), and Sarah’s face.
here is my 2 cents worth, remember YOU asked. The cold, barren wasted field mirrors the soul and heart of the subject. The entire harsh sharp angular lines coincide with the chair, representing the emptiness of the chair. Whether the emptiness represents the lack of caring for others, or something missing that she has lost ( a lover, friend) is open to speculation. Of course, the cold and dark colors compliment the singular loneliness of the image.
The figure is holding on to the chair because she just married a farmer, and she doesn’t want to work on the farm (hence the empty fields), instead, she wants to be a shoe shiner which is why she is holding on to the chair waiting for her next customer.
Just beautiful!
Well, Sarah is thinking “what in the world am I doing out here in this cold barren corn field standing with this ornate polished chair posing for a lovely picture that will be handed down to my grandchildren. I’m cold and I’ll be glad when I’m done. However, I would do it again for the great artist! He is proud of me, and I love him!
The artist is thinking: “Sarah represents that solitary house, minus it’s lovely dining room chair, the lonliness of the area, and how stark and quiet everything seems. The chair represents meticulous labor by a woodwork artist, and Sarah’s appearance adds to the question of what and who else reside in that home sitting amid leafless trees.
The artist loves painting his daughter, because she is very beautiful.
Must be the artist’s version of “American Gothic” with a cuter model and a pretty chair instead of a pitchfork.