Andrew Wyeth The German Analysis

794 Words2 Pages

The painting I chose was The German by Andrew Wyeth. The German was painted in 1975 and consists of watercolor and black ink. The German is a watercolor painting about a German solider during World War I. The subject matter of the painting attracted me because, I like the story a historical painting tells; historical paintings in general, grab my attention more than portraits. I can appreciate the fact that Andrew Wyeth portrayed a WWI figure or event than a WWII figure or event because, a lot of paintings are about WWII. I have not come across a lot of paintings about WWI. Overall, I feel Andrew Wyeth’s choice on portraying a WWI German soldier was unique and interesting. Color Choices stand out to me more than any other feature in …show more content…

Gloomy comes to mind when I see muted colors. Muted colors in a painting give an ominous feel: Andrew Wyeth’s prominent use of muted colors implies he has a pessimistic, and gloomy view of the world because, when he painted these paintings, a lot of them were during WWII and the Cold War era. These time periods were not the best in terms of happiness. The German makes me feel on edge because, of the expression of the German soldier’s face, and the application of watercolor paint and black ink. The watercolor paint was applied heavily, thus making the painting stand out more than a painting with thin paint application. The black ink Wyeth used for the tree leaves implies the trees are dormant and it is winter time during WWI. The background is just the paper which, also implies a cold and brutal winter in this painting. The soldier looks very stern and stoic, and that his face is dirty face is from fighting in the trenches. He really looks like he was fighting in a trench because, I feel some of the brown on his uniform is dirt from trench war-fare. Overall, Andrew Wyeth’s portrayal of character’s, and paint application shows his view on

Open Document