Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother Essay

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively changed ordinary living by forcing people to stay safe in loneliness. However, for many artists, the global pandemic provided inspiration as the world experienced a similar condition where people were united emotionally in fears and hopes despite being separated from the physical world. The article focuses on the paintings of Ellen Holtzblatt, and specifically her artwork series about her mother (Xiao). The paintings demonstrate the depressed and lonely state of elderly people, worsened by the pandemic.

Ellen Holtzblatt’s Paintings

Through the portraits of her mother, Holtzblatt captures the unique sense of loneliness that elderly people feel when most of their close people pass away. The artist’s works are primarily landscape-based, which allows for illustrating the vulnerability of the person captured in the painting. The landscapes are presented by blurry outlines of mountains, skies, and clouds. The blurriness of the landscape reflects the existence without meaning and emphasizes the lifeless state of the person. Thus, the landscape-dominated composition of the portraits demonstrates the emptiness of the world around the person.

Furthermore, through the predominance of gray colors and muted color palettes, the artist reflects the melancholic state of the person pictured in the portrait. In some works, the woman’s figure starts blending with the landscape, illustrating her willingness to unite with eternity through nature. One of the paintings pictures her with an invisible object in her hands to symbolize her commitment to long-lost feelings and demonstrate the lack of physical connection with the world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the series of paintings drawn by Holtzblatt, “Song of Songs: Portraits of the Artist’s Mother,” draws attention to the problem of loneliness among elderly people, which deteriorated significantly during the pandemic. The artwork’s execution accurately conveys the emotions of loss and loneliness without using many additional details. Lastly, the artists’ muted but not dark color palette complements the composition and successfully conveys the idea about elderly people’s depression.

Work Cited

Xiao, Menghan. “Artist unfolds pandemic isolation of elderly people in her works.” Medill Reports, 2022. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, April 18). Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellen-holtzblatts-portraits-of-her-mother/

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"Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother." IvyPanda, 18 Apr. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/ellen-holtzblatts-portraits-of-her-mother/.

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IvyPanda. 2023. "Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother." April 18, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellen-holtzblatts-portraits-of-her-mother/.

1. IvyPanda. "Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother." April 18, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellen-holtzblatts-portraits-of-her-mother/.


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IvyPanda. "Ellen Holtzblatt’s Portraits of Her Mother." April 18, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellen-holtzblatts-portraits-of-her-mother/.

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