Compare And Contrast Goodnight Irene And Lynch Family

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which is located in Kansas City, possess a rich collection of art coming from the entire world. Even more, when it comes to American artists the museum maintains magnificent works from different ages and styles. Two of the paintings, from American authors, that call visitors’ attention whenever they visit the museum are “Goodnight Irene” and “Lynch family”. Both paintings are works from different American authors, yet same style and similar date of creation. This two paintings are capable to evoke diverse feelings and emotions in the spectators, for that reason the purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast both works in terms of perspective, technique and compositional features.

“Good Night Irene” is

This painting is a powerful image that represents the reality of many Afro-American families of the time. Contrary to “Good Night Irene”, this painting shows a more two-dimensional perspective in which the shapes and lines are sharper. The members of the body, such as arms and neck, look longer than they should be, but that rather than look artificial creates a continuity in the picture. As well as in the last painting, this one is very realistic and natural, the shapes are not ambiguous or dubious so for the admirer is easy to identify what the artist wanted to express. In terms of technique, the strokes and lines in “Good Night Irene” are very defined, and in “Lynch family” are too. The author of the work is precise and gives a realistic image that sensitizes the viewers. Finally, in terms of compositional features it is possible to see that the Joseph Hirsch made a powerful statement with the color selection. Unlike the first painting, the author of “Lynch family” decided to use very similar and dark colors in the whole scene. He used a blue color range in the background as well as in the dress of the woman to express the sadness and desperation she is going through at that moment. The only point of light in the painting is the baby she is holding and that the author decided to paint with another color range, probably to represent that the infant is still innocent and without knowledge of what was going