Applying a Reading on a Piece of Art
Expressionism: Art reaction
This painting The Dance of Life, by Edvard Munch (1899-1900) portrays a group of dancers depicted as swirls of color. The central couple is flanked by a cheerful woman in white, and a dour woman in black. The impression created by this flanking is almost symbolic in nature, as if two spirits are haunting the celebration in the painting. The central image is of a couple, in the embrace of a dance amongst other dancers. The male figure is depicted in dark round curves of color, almost like the female figure. This suggests motion, or perhaps the feminization of the man in love, given that this lower half is just as voluptuous as that of his partner's.
The couple depicted in the center of the painting does not seem to be getting married, given that the woman is dressed in red. It is possible to construct several scenarios that would explain the presence of the women...
Perhaps the angry woman is a spurned lover? Perhaps the approving woman is the mother of the young woman? There is a 'specialness' conveyed in the presence of the couple because of its central location in the middle of the frame. The fact that the other female dancers whirling around them are dressed in white further conveys the couple's 'specialness.'
Despite the fact that the central woman is in red, however, there is still a distinct character to every other pair of dancers. For example, the dancing couple to the right of the viewer shows a large male nuzzling the nape of his female partner with eagerness. His face is quite distinct, his mouth is open, yet her hair and body are merely whips of brushstrokes. The fact that the male is overpowering the female is conveyed with the quality of the paint, rather than in a literal manner. Instead of translating a photographic reality, the impression of a lascivious…
