Art Critique Example Essay

Art has been something that I have always enjoyed. Whether it be actually creating my own pieces or admiring pieces from local artist, it has been a passion of mine very early on in my life. Now before taking Art 102 I never really attempted to dive in deep to the pieces I was admiring; I never really "decoded" any of the pieces, really. Instead, I would simply snap a quick photo, add a dark filter that really made the reds stand out, and write a witty quote. This has been my cycle when walking into any exhibit for the past years; find the most visually appealing work of art and spend more time on posting the piece on social media than actually interpreting what the artist was trying to portray. Going through the semester I have learned...show more content...

Charles Graner and his team are the ones responsible for such actions and are responsible for the photo. When Graner and his team were exposed by Joe Derby, the entire world took note and there was not only outrage on Graner's part but on Derby as well for betraying his fellow American military. Copper Greene not only borrows the photo but iPod billboard as well and in a sense does a spin off creating his unique piece with his own message. The reason why we as individuals are able to make the connection of Greene's piece to Apple's advertisement is because the idea of signifier and signified. Where in this case the we take the signifier which is the bright loud colors with the a dark figure used in Greene's work and we translate that to the signified; which is apple products. In short, bright loud colors with dark figure equals apple products. Greene also uses bricoloage to create a sense of representation as he is using his platform to highlight the real world and those real issues. In this case, that being of American Military personal using strong forms of interrogation. Looking at the piece closer and decoding what the white headphones truly mean, we can conclude that those headphones not only serves as electrical wires used for torture but too Americans use those some head phones to shut out the outside world and any real problems, isolating themselves to their tunes and their own problems. The Get more content

The definition of art, according to Webster's Dictionary, is human creativity. This definition does not take into consideration our desires to analyze, understand, and accept or reject what we see in front of us. The phrase, "art is in the eye of the beholder", is a true statement, because everyone has an opinion on what they consider art. In my opinion, art does not need to be understood or accepted to be considered art. Art needs to invoke an emotional response, be translatable to our lives, be expressive of a period in time, and be bold. In order to clearly understand my interpretation of art, I decided to compare various creative works.

Jill Greenberg, a photographer, created a series of work called End Times that captures images of...show more content...

Jackson Pollack, a renowned American painter, does not represent what I consider art. The abstract expressionist movement as a whole does little to stir any emotion but confusion. Pollack once said, "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you". (Famous People and Pop Culture) I do agree that his work is abstract but it is not confrontational. Take into consideration his work Echo, an artwork of black splatter on white canvas. The splatter of paint does not transform itself into any meaning or purpose; it just sits waiting for completion. When I stare at Pollack's work, I am expecting it to transform like one of those puzzle pictures seen in a mall. Is it a boat? Is it a cat? If I stare at it long enough it may actually represent something tangible. Pollack may have expressed the non– conformist attitude of the time, but he does it without stirring my inner desires to feel connected. I don't consider this type of art bold, or even controversial, it is just an expression of someone's unconscious. As intricate as his process is to achieve, the results are juvenile at best. I reiterate that I don't think we have to understand or accept art to have it be considered art, but it should make us feel something.

Ernie Barnes, an African–American artist, I believe is representative of my definition of art. Barnes is probably most famous for his 1971 "Sugar Shack" painting that appeared on the television show Good Times. Barnes paintings are an interpretation of Get more content

Examples Of Art Critique

I chose to critique a painting that I saw when I went to the Fine Arts Center here in Tullahoma. The Fine Arts Center host many different exhibits in a year, but the recent one is The Watercolor Society's one hundred forty ninth Traveling Exhibit. The Tullahoma Fine Arts center used to be the house of The Baillet Sisters. Supposedly the women still walk around, and open doors. On the upstairs wall there are two paintings of each of the sisters.

The painting is called "Guitar Hero" and it was created by W. Michael Bush, an artist that was born in Indiana, but resides in Bell Buckle. "Guitar Hero" is a painting that centralizes a musician and surrounds him with a crowd at his feet. It includes a combination of warm and cool colors mostly being...show more content...

It relates to me because I am definitely not creative enough to go where those amazingly creative people have gone. I do not have the talent to even be creative or musically talented. This piece symbolizes to me that musicians are adored and paid millions of dollars but it is too much. There are musicians and artists who never achieve that fame or fortune and they are the same. It also shows that music and art are one in the same. People are often put in a pedestal in both walks of life and they are using their creative talents to express their feelings and try and get others to enjoy their works, or just make it big and make tons of money. I think this work of art is valuable because there are so many levels to it. It is not just a painting. It really shows the separation between regular people and celebrities. It can be said though that this piece lacks use of principles of design. There a lot of abstract elements to this piece and it could have used more line to separate and clear the image up instead of leaving it jumbled. "Guitar Hero" by W. Michael Bush leaves a lasting impression in my head that cannot be done by any ordinary

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Art Review If you have some free time and have always wanted to visit an art gallery, a start is the Art SacrГ© exposition. Just do not expect high quality art. Running from October twenty–third to December eight–teenth at Les Salles de GesГ№, the exposition features four artists depicting spirituality and inner self. The first artist in the exposition is Hannah Alpha. Born in Egypt, she's a McGill alumni who uses the minimalism style of painting, which is the art of using simplistic design to create maximum impact. The paintings grab your attention due to their abstractness. However they fail to portray the artist's meaning. Her collection, called "La danse cosmique" (The cosmic dance), is her search to "attain a state of supreme...show more content...

Perhaps the only way to understand what Peneault was trying to portray is to ask her personally. In the next room I came across a very unique and interesting collection of pieces. If you especially like or have any interest in calligraphy, then you are going to love what Hongmo Ren has done. Calling it REN–script, Ren has created what he calls a calligraphy and linguistic "experimentale." Consisting of seven English and six French pieces, he has combined the art and beauty of calligraphy with writing of equal stature. In ten of his pieces he elaborates on the beauty of nature during various seasons and includes a complete verse from the Book of Genesis. The rest of the pieces are large single word depictions again in calligraphy with intricate detail. REN–script is definitely the turning point of this art exposition. The use of words by the artist in the poems is lyrical and actually puts you in the place being described. Some of his settings include the sun shining on Mount Royal and the moon reflecting of the St. Laurent River. At times the writing is a bit hard to understand yet the more one stares at it the clearer it becomes. The amount of work the artist put into his pieces is evident when you examine the detail using ink on rice paper. Inner self is the main theme of the next and final artist in this exhibition. Using paper molds

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Art Critique "Scattered All Over" by Indiana Purtill, was made on August 12th of 2015 using the medium of colored pencil and paper. As an art viewer, one symbol that I believed stood out was a heart located in the middle of the paper. This large heart located in the center of the paper had 7 miniature hearts scattered inside. This heart was also shaded in a light shade of red for the inside, and had a dark deep outline for the outside. I believe that the artist is trying to convey that the large red heart represents her life and the 7 miniature hearts inside represent the artist family and loved ones. As a viewer I believe that this is a successful piece of art because it made me as an art viewer feel that most of the artist summer was spent

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EXAMPLE ART GALLERY REPORT!

Portrait 1

My first portrait I am going to going to critique is a oil on canvas piece by Scott Jones B. This first portrait I am going to critique is called going on four. The first thing you immediately see about the piece is the scantily clad cartoonish bee looking character set in the foreground .The piece is of a bee looking character set in the middle of the piece and taking up about one fourth the piece. He is set in the foreground and almost seems to be coming off the piece or coming out of the painting .The character is wearing a striped shirt with the colors mixed between shades of blue and...show more content...

This pretty much sums up the character. As for the rest of the piece the background behind the character is a mixture of colors. Some of the colors I was able to see through all the shading and blending where but not limited to splotches of purple, yellow, dark pink and red, urine yellow, violet, blue, white, and finally pink. These colors are mixed together with different unique moments and swishes of the brush. Then in the four corners of the piece there is four different sized suns. Each sun is placed, shaped and sized differently in each corner. The colors of each sun is the same thou. Each sun is bright yellow with mixtures of white each placed in different parts of the sun. The artist really used many lines and really used or utilized this element. There is also many shapes especially in the character and foreground. The form of the character is looks amateur but the artist wanted it to be this way. The figure or character almost seems to be three dimensional and seems to be coming out or off the canvas.

The artist used value well utilizing the lightness and darkness of color well. The element of space is missing thou the one character is much too small in comparison to the rest of the piece. The rhythm and movement of the piece is very awkward and confusing to the viewer and could have been

Reflection About Art

Arts generate a strong feeling of admiration, displeasure, or anything in between. Furthermore, art expresses the human experience, and because of that correlation, there's a stronger bond between art and humanity. That bond allows art to evoke intense and powerful emotion from us . However, there is a difference between art and art–like; art has implication beyond the obvious, and art–like being merely decorative. So it is crucial to remember, that true art has meaning either positive or negative. Obviously, I learned that through this course and from experiencing art in the real world. In fact, since the beginning of this course I've been searching for art in the real world, so I can analyze and try to understand the deeper meaning behind it. Searching and Finding art in the world has certainly opened my eyes to all of the wonderful things in the world. Searching for art, I've found that it is everywhere around us and plays a major role in our everyday lives. Since taking this course I have encountered art in my home and school. Both are places that I go almost everyday, but my concept of art was so limited that I neglected to notice. At my home the paintings, books, and even the building itself is art. Infact, my mom has a Thomas Kinkade original hanging in the hallway and countless bibles lying around. Not only do we have bibles, but on my bookshelf lies tons of classic literature that I never considered to be art, because I thought art was "just paintings and stuff".

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ART CRITICISM PAPER

"The Grafin von Schonfeld with her Daughter" by Elizabeth Louise Vigee–LeBrun

In the University Of Arizona Museum Of Art, the Pfeiffer Gallery is displaying many art pieces of oil on canvas paintings. These paintings are mostly portraits of people, both famous and not. They are painted by a variety of artists of European decent and American decent between the mid 1700's and the early 1900's. The painting by Elizabeth Louise Vigee–Lebrun caught my eye and drew me in to look closely at its composition.

"The Grafin von Scholfeld with her Daughter" is oil on canvas art piece painted in 1793. It is a painting of a woman holding her daughter on her lap, the...show more content...

The little girl's dress gives the texture of lightness and seems like airy fabric that would be thin and translucent. The time in this piece is very accurate of the late 1700's and when viewing it, the time seems classic. The emphasis of this piece is mainly the mother and the daughter, however when looking at them you are drawn into looking at their realistic eyes. The eyes seem like the focal point which draws the viewer in to the picture.

The relationship in the painting between the mother and daughter give it a definite asymmetrical balance and maybe a little radial balance. A radial balance because of their eyes being the central focus, then the faces, then the holding of each other, then where they are placed on the canvas, and then the bench and the landscape. The colors used by the painter, also creates balance with in the picture. The wine colored dress of the mother, red sash of the daughter's dress, ruby lips, and the rosy cheeks give a warm feeling to the central focus of the mother and daughter. The cool color of the sky is the same as the women's eyes as well as the trees and green on the mother's dress. These balances give unity or a unifying feeling to the painting, especially between the mother and daughter.

The idea of this piece is to show the connection between mother and daughter being painted. It shows the time and the classic style of the

Art Critiques

Critiques

Chapter 1: 1. Mona Lisa is one of the most famous pieces of art work in the world. Leonardo da Vinci used a light and dark contrast in this portrait to achieve the emphasis of her mysterious facial expression. (Page 2). 2. The artwork of the "Kenyan woman" there was a variety of colors. The colors in this work portrayed the beauty in different cultures. The smile of the Kenyan woman shows that happiness is beauty. (Page 3). 3. This picture is of the Column of Trajan in Rome, Italy. The spirals on this piece of architecture portray the victories of Napoleon Bonaparte. The history and antiqueness of this column makes this picture beautiful. (Page 8).

Chapter 2: 1. Sol LeWitt's "Lines from four corners to points...show more content...

This image portrays the lava pouring out of a volcano as it explodes. (Page 129). 2. "Still Life, Tulips" is a watercolor painting done on paper by artist Emil Nolde. This painting represents the beauty of nature. The colors in this picture help express how beautiful nature can really be and that people really need to take the time to enjoy nature. (Page 131). 3. "Arcadia Revisted" is a spray paint on canvas done by artist Crash (John Matos). This piece of artwork looks very graffiti like. This picture portrays the energy of the era. (Page 132).

Chapter 7: 1. Artist Chen Xuhai's artwork known as "Golden Autumn" seems very complex. This piece of artwork seems to be of an aging face. The lines on the face represent the wrinkles on a person's face. (Page 138). 2. "The Mothers" done by artist Käthe Kollwitz emphasizes a mother's love their child after a war. The facial expressions of the mothers and children seem to be very depressing, which gives this piece of artwork creates a sense of sorrow. (Page 145). 3. Edgar Degas's masterpiece known as "The Ballet Master" shows a man teaching a woman ballet. It seems as if he is directing her as to what to do. This image seems to be a unique piece of art. (Page 147).

Chapter 8: 1. "Young Lady with an Umbrella" shows a woman enjoying the presence of nature. This photography really captures the beauty in nature with the beautiful fall leaves. (Page 155). 2. "The Brown

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Art Critique

The first art work of Egypt I saw on the Google Cultural Institute website was the 'Relief sculpture of Metjetji and his son Sabu–pyah'. This sculpture was found in the Tomb of Metjetji, Saqqara, Egypt. The sculpture can be divided into two parts: hieroglyphs on the right, and the graph on the left which drew a man who was holding staff in each hand. He is looking right, shows us his profile of his face, knees and legs, while his eyes and chest are frontal. His kilt and hair are precise with vertical and horizon lines. His necklace and bears are also detail. He has long hair and an elegant bracelet is on his left hand. The sculpture tries to picture this man's body line. There is also a small man standing beside the big man's feet. His body is also brown color, but he does not wear a kilt. They seem like watching the view of the city together on the summit. I also saw the Statue (ANKH) on the website. It is a man sitting on a chair. His back is straight, right hand is cross in fist and puts it on his thigh while his left arm cross his body. His pose shows a great power and confidence, so I guess he is a noble. His lip is thick but nose is small. I can identify his fingers and nails clearly. There are also some hieroglyphs on his shoulder which claim the name of the man. Although this statue is not as precise as those...show more content... Google takes advantage of its big information collected power as a giant company in the world, and the website gives me an opportunity to enjoy the art works at home instead of going outside. On the one hand, I can access the relevant art projects easily when they are collected in different museums in various countries; on the other hand, I can have a close observation due to the high quality pictures the website has. Building this data bank of art allows people research the art works more

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The Lewis–Clark State College Center for Arts and History is an art gallery that showcases, on the second floor of the gallery, the LCSC Continuing Education & Community Events. This is where I went to examine three pieces of artwork by various artists. The gallery has a peaceful setting; even after spending thirty minutes there, I was not in a hurry to leave. Calming music played in the background, the color scheme was modern with defined lines, and the temperature was an enjoyable 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The first piece of artwork I examined was Swallows View by Kelsey Grafton. This painted picture is of a backcountry road alongside a hill on the viewer's left side and a wide, calm river on the right side. I achieved an immediate sense of participation with this painting; my undivided attention was quickly drawn to the sharp line of the cliff overlooking the dirt road and the white–light blue river. My first step...show more content...

Vines is a painting of a row of possibly apple trees with possibly dahlia flowers at the base of the trees. The hue of the sky is a mixture of blues, white, and purples while the ground is orange–brown. There is unity, "the togetherness, despite contrasts, of details and regions to the whole" (David and Jacobus) in the painting as well as variety, "the contrasts of details and regions" (David and Jacobus). This picture made me feel hungry as I perceive the trees to bear fruit on them. Unlike the other paintings, Vines did not make me feel a strong emotion. I suspect the purpose of this painting to not be very deep; however, I still believe that there is a small purpose which is that of Swallows View: to inform people that there are beauty in places that are not consumed by

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Art Critique Paper

Critique

The first artwork I chose didn't have a title with it but it was drawn by Douglas A. Beckett. I went to the Activity Center of San Marcos with Geoff Bretches and Alice Horn (My mom). The painting is a portrait with multiple types of rock looking shapes. You can't really tell what the time of day was but it looks like it was outside on a mountain or cliff. It is a vertical realistic piece. The artwork was made in the contemporary period because it was drawn just last year. There is just a cluster of a bunch of big rocks surrounding pebbles. The artist must not be that famous currently because I couldn't find any information on him. The lines of the art piece are thin, structural and curved. The art is dark and dull but looks very realistic. Just looking at the piece it feels rough because it is like you are walking on top of rocks. You are looking at it from a top perspective so you can see bigger stones around the little pebbles. It is a two dimensional drawing of a three dimensional figure. I would say his pattern and unity are good because it...show more content... However, as I was looking at other art pieces around it, it kept on catching my attention on how unique it was. It is unique because the artist combined multiple types of rocks shapes together a made a swell art piece. The only thing I disliked about this art piece was that the drawing was in black and white. If it would have had more color in it, I probably would have liked it from the start. I wouldn't hang this work in my room because it doesn't fit with how my room is styled. Different people see artwork differently because everybody has a different taste in art. If I could give this work a title, I would title it Life Changing. I would title it that because each rock could have a different change in your life. I would probably hang this painting in the court room with the meaning of it so the people known how quick life can change off of the steps you

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Example Of Visual Art Critique

Visual Art Critique

For my visual art critique, I attend the Texas State University Wittliff Collections on Tuesday, October tenth. During my visit I viewed works of art from the Lonesome Dove collection. The first piece of work I critiques was the photograph "Crossing the Rio Grande" taken by Bill Wittliff. This photo was taken on the set of the Lonesome Dove in 1988. What stood out to me was the significance of how real this photo is. So many slaves have tried to cross this river to escape persecution and slavery. Although, in this instance the photo is depicting three cowboys or horseman crossing the Rio Grande River in pursuit of cattle driving thousands of cattle from Texasup north to Montana. Although this photo is quite iconic in relation to this history of Texas I do not believe this piece of work along with many others from this exhibit should be deemed canonical. I personally rate this piece of work a four and a half, out of ten simply because while it is a great piece of art; it is the type of work I would like to hang in my bathroom above my toilet so while I am urinating I can view a nice "manly" piece of art. The second piece I critiqued was also a photo from the set of "Lonesome Dove". The second piece of art was titled "Gus on Porch," and was also taken by Bill Wittliff. This piece of work was very interesting to me because although I am not from Texas, I believe that this photo depicts how many outsiders of Texas, view the states past. This photo features

I recently visited your gallery, and the collection you have installed shows that you have a clear interest in contemporary art. I respect your collection, but believe it would benefit greatly from some new and diverse subject matter. It is for this reason that I highly recommend you consider making the works of Titus Kaphar the next addition to your gallery.

Titus Kaphar is a black contemporary artist who is still working each day to create and push for art that breaks boundaries and addresses political turbulence and the challenges that people of color are currently facing. He was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and currently works between New York and New Haven after earning his Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale University. His work...show more content... People who have never shared the experience of worrying about being perceived as more criminal or dangerous due to the color of their skin insinuated that some of these victims could not have possibly been shot had they simply put their hands up and peacefully surrendered. The resulting dialogue lead to the mantra of "Hands up, don't shoot" becoming a major part of protests as participants were unarmed and non–violent, as a symbol of their right to protest peacefully without worry of injury or death by law enforcement. This aspect of the painting heavily implies the moment that is being captured at this particular event, as it has likely been noticed by bystanders, possibly authorities, and they must do all they can to show that they are harmless. To add to this, the men in the front of the crowd have their heads tilted slightly upward, with a hooded gaze looking over the path ahead; a path that may be blocked by those who wish to silence them. To highlight this point, half the painting is awash with harsh, scratchy strokes of white, distorting the crowd and covering the majority of the primary figures, most notably their mouths. This is a very literal homage to the idea of whitewashing and silencing those protesting against issues that white people do not face, as well as erasing their identities as black Americans. Additionally, the dark night background is washed with red, bleeding into the implications of streetlights and cell phone cameras

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The art piece that I chose to critique is the sculpture of a figure kneeling down and getting shocked. It is located on campus near the Morris University Center(muc). When I first saw this sculpture it caught my attention immediately, because of how gruesome the piece was. I feel like I don't have a good understanding of what the sculpture represents, but it seems like it would raise plenty of controversy, due to its erotic features. It seems like the artist was venting his emotions when he created his idea. The sculpture is fairly large in size, which makes it noticeable, among the other art pieces on campus. The sculpture media consist of wood and concrete, and metal mostly. The individual is keeling down toward the west and is supported...show more content...

Sayre the author says, "The Buddha is the most extensive collection of large–scale sculptures in the world and can be found an hour north of New York City in the lower Hudson Valley at Storm King Art Center ("A World of Art"). Zhang seems to like the traditional aspects of chinses culture, because he re–used an ash material form other artists, to create his own sculpture. The techniques he used to create the sculpture is casting, assemblage, and construction. Without using these three additive techniques of sculpting, the artwork wouldn't have been fragile, and not overwhelming in size. The subject of the "three Legged–Buddha" is another conflict with the governmental rules and regulations, and it has drawn a lot of attention due to its strong message that it conveys. When I initially examined the art piece for the first time, it looked like a huge dismantled, three legged human figure. I thought it was a symbol for keeping your body in better shape over your mind. The most amazing part of the sculpture is how extremely large it is compared to the electrocution sculpture. After reading and interpreting the sculpture it struck me that it was made for ceremonial gathering, where incense placed and burned from inside of the sculpture, and pours out of the head. I think that the artist was trying to involve the visitors in his sculpture. Since Zhang Huan

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Art for me was always more of an aesthetic thing rather than a historic thing. I never truly thought about the meaning in art. It was not until I took this class, art history, that I begin not only to critique a work of art but to appreciate a work of art. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston was a great experience and its many exhibits were beautiful and insightful. The amount of different cultures that were being exhibited in this museum was astonishing. I was able to relate many exhibits with what I have learned in class. I chose to critique three artworks that I found very interesting and beautiful. All of them are beautiful sculptures from similar backgrounds, that everyone should get to see at least once in their lifetime. The first artwork was a beautiful sarcophagus, the Sarcophagus of a Youth that is dated to be from the 5th–4th century B.C., created by the artist Phoenician. This sarcophagus was made for the burial of nobility.The sarcophagus was made from Parian marble with a form that was a blend of two cultures; the shape of an Egyptian sarcophagus with a classically carved Greek face. The Greek face has stoicism, meaning repression of emotion. The sarcophagus weighs more than two thousand pounds and is seven feet tall. The sarcophagus is in perfect condition for being for being from the 5th–4th century B.C.; it is one of the two Phoenician sarcophagi in the United States. Sarcophagus of a Youth is an extraordinarysculpture who's smooth marble will make you want

Art Critique : Art Museum

Art Critique This past weekend I visited the Blanton Art Museum in Austin, Texas. It is located Near the Capital, on the edge of the street. I took a deep breath and put coins in the meter and headed for the door. Upon walking in I stood outside for a moment to take a look around, I have never been to an art museum before so I wanted to get the full effect before my critique. It was quiet, unusual for Austin but, there were people walking around the museum as well and taking pictures. In this era, how could I go in without taking a picture of myself in front of the building and where you could see the capital in the background. When you walk into the museum you are greeted with warm smiles from the front desk and you pay for your admission pick up some pamphlets and you are on your way. While walking past security in into the first exhibit, "Design for Living in Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. I began to wonder if I was going to enjoy myself or not? I walked past many art works before I decided to head upstairs to see if maybe something different would catch my eye. Not that the art in the other room was any different but I was looking for a bigger attention grabber. The steps lead up to right where I would finally begin my paper. I walked into a smaller room, completely white with random sketches on the wall and a name Donald Moffett would then catch my eye. They had a small introduction about him on the wall. That's where I would learn that he was from San Antonio Texas Get

Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue's face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we...show more content...

The Stele depicts a simple scene: a seated man and standing woman behind him stare blankly straight ahead. A woman standing on the left looks down upon them. All of them are ordinary humans. They are not gods or goddesses. They are private people. Their clothing is plain, consisting of simple robes. It is representational of a regular family mourning the loss of one of its members, a scene that most people, even today, are able to relate to hundreds or even thousands of years later.

The stele conveys a solemn forlornness that can be seen in the figures' faces. Their mouths are tightly shut; their eyes gaze blankly ahead. The woman on the left stares ahead with little emotion on her face. The stele does not depict any motion. All of the figures are standing (or sitting) still, in quiet memorial. This solemnity adds to the emotion of a grave where the stele once stood. There is no real clear answer as to who is being mourned. Are the seated man and the woman mourning the loss of their daughter, on the left? Or is the woman on the left mourning the loss of a father? The sculpture's ambiguity also adds to the emotion that it evokes. It might even be appropriate for its purpose. Its function was to mark a gravesite – the site of the body of someone who has died. Death is one of the most complex parts of life. It is the most ambiguous, for nobody knows for sure what happens in death. The ambiguity of the stele highlights Get