Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” vs. Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” Paintings Research Paper

As was mentioned earlier, both pictures reflect a similar theme. Even though these two works were created in different periods, they convey the same meaning claiming that only personal struggle can create hope in people’s hearts. Both paintings have similarities and differences based on the symbolic elements depicted by the authors. The outstanding symbolic component of the Girl with the Pearl Earring painting is the earring. Considering the general girl’s appearance, the earring attracts attention. As was mentioned earlier, this symbol was created to express the illusionary nature of hope (Berg et al., 2019). It was created only through the existence of dark colors in the background. Thus, this encouraging symbol shows that the hop cannot be born without darkness and despair.

Christina’s World also has a peculiar symbol expressing the creator’s idea. However, this symbol is used to show despair. The black belt on the woman’s dress shows the paralyzed part of her body (Benson, 2020). Unlike the first work’s symbol, the belt expresses the negative background of the story. The meaning of hope is conveyed by depicting a woman’s house and her pose deliberately striving to the light. Thus, the pictures are similar in using symbolism to reflect the necessity of striving for hope. However, the number of symbols and their distributions are different.

Considering the medium that could have empowered both pictures’ creation, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet should be mentioned. The themes of hope and despair are inherent elements of this tragedy. Some researchers believe that Girl with the Pearl Earring was created based on Shakespeare’s story (Berg et al., 2019). The woman turns back to her love, which is considered to be the person viewing the picture. Some analytics consider Christina’s World story similar to Shakespeare’s tragedy (Benson, 2020). Christina is separated from her loved ones by cruel fate, and only through striving for hope can she return to her family. Therefore, based on the conducted analysis, the thesis can be formulated as follows: researched paintings reflect the theme of the hope which people create themselves in the ultimate despair surrounding them.

The identified theme can impact representatives of some professional directions. The activities of social workers are directly affected by the mentioned topic. Their prior aim is to help others morally and mentally, thereby increasing the quality of others’ lives. Thus, they should be mentally stable and always create hope for themselves and the people they want to help. Teachers also can be affected by this topic because they are connected to raising the future generation. Their work is extremely important for the whole society. Being unable to create hope and strive for the better in the world’s cruelty will affect the children and make them mentally weak. Teachers should teach young people never to lose hope in their lives.

As far as the discussed theme is existential, the audience for the presentation may be pretty vast. People who want to learn more about art and humanities and those who want to share their emotional struggles with others may be interested in the presentation. Moreover, the theme can also be beneficial for the representatives of the mentioned above professions contributing to their development in humanities.

Delivering the message will be rationally using the visual supportive material. For example, presenting a detailed analysis of some painting elements and symbols showing them on the screen would be rational. As far as the presentation is intended for the general audience, some of the terms applied by the scholars can be unfamiliar for people. Especially the terms regarding the historical styles and traditions which has affected the creation of paintings. In order to avoid overcomplicating the message, the terms usage should be minimized. Only the most vital for conveying the main ideas ones should be preserved. In order to get the audience accustomed to the necessary notions, it can be rational to provide the handout with the highlighted terms.

One of the most vital concepts of a successful presentation is to establish contact with the target audience. In order to create the effect of involvement in the theme and the humanities science, dialogue and interaction with the people should be used. The unification of the speaker and audience is a perfect opportunity to attract attention (Dragomir, Francisco-Lens, & Rodríguez-Vázquez, 2022). If the audience is interested in the proposed material, even complicated terms can be preserved aiming at scientific development in humanities.

Therefore, the analysis of the two artifacts: Girl with a Pearl Earring and Christina’s World, shows that cultural artifacts are similar in terms of the theme and motifs. The authors use the symbolic elements differently to convey the same idea of the struggle for hope in human lives. Due to the overwhelming nature of the theme, its humanitarian analysis can be a matter of interest for representatives of many ages and professions. As a result of a general audience, the presentation of the theme should be oriented on the plain explanations. However, the scientific terms should not be extracted out of the narration. The description of them should be provided for the audience to be able to comprehend the topic clearly. Such an approach contributes to the most efficient conveying of the ideas implemented by the artists and researchers.

References

Berg, K., Loon, A., Vandivere, A., & Wadum, J. (2019). From ‘Vermeer Illuminated’ to ‘The Girl in the Spotlight’: Approaches and methodologies for the scientific (re-)examination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Heritage Science, 7(66), 1–12. Web.

Benson, J. (2020). The world of Christina: Reflections on the journey home. Appalachia, 72(2), 34–40. Web.

Dragomir, M. Francisco-Lens, N., & Rodríguez-Vázquez, AI. (2022). Audiences first: Professional profiles, tools and strategies of digital newsrooms to connect with the public. Total Journalism, 97, 211–226. Web.