Comparing Vincent Namatjira And Pablo Picasso's The Weeping Woman

Amongst the world of misrepresentation, cultural identity, strong political beliefs, the tragedy of war and many more there are 2 excellent artists that arise. Vincent Namatjira and Pablo Picasso are both perfect representations of this. When artistic representation and depictions are presented, we should paint not what is on the face, but what is behind it.

To begin with, a clear depiction of painting behind the face is the world renowned painting by Pablo Picasso, ‘The Weeping Woman.’ By using distortion and his own political ideologies, Picasso creates a powerful and shocking painting of his long-time lover and friend, Dora Maar. Picasso, (through using distortion) communicates his powerful thoughts and the ideologies of Spanish civilians

Picasso’s use of distortion not only adds, but emphasises the woman’s suffering. It creates emphasis on the depth of grief and sadness the woman is suffering, and creates an expressive and emotional response in the viewer. The weeping woman can be seen as the human interpretation of grief and fear, not by what is on the face but what is behind it. Picasso’s ability to integrate the woman’s fear and anguish so deeply into her character connects emotionally to the viewer. Painting what is on the face is close to meaningless, but behind the face has the most meaning. On the surface, the weeping woman isn’t a very aesthetically appealing piece. Picasso’s father was a very talented artist who taught at a university. The experience, knowledge and skills that his father had passed down to Picasso, and at a very young age he was painting flawless paintings. But despite these skills, he chose to break cultural art norms, rather

By using portraiture to depict his experiences, and the influence of the world Namitjara creates a strong and uplifting message to his viewers. His use of portraiture helps to depict the Aboriginal cultures, experiences and people. In these artworks, the clear influence of Aboriginal popular culture figures. Namitjara uses the legendary Aboriginal AFL player Adam Goodes to connect to a wider audience and to resonate with the viewer. Namatjira’s work conveys an empowering and thoughtful message to the viewer. He explores his experiences with cultural identity, his connection to his land and racism he faced as an Aboriginal man living in post-colonial Australia. By using popular-cultural figures such as Adam Goodes and Albert Namatjira, it shows that he is standing amongst them in solidarity, as one of them. Namitjara offers a fresh art style and perspective in his works. His use of popular culture (political figures, AFL players, relatives etc) allows him to resonate with a larger audience and gather more attention. He uses powerful brush strokes as well as bold and vibrant colours to convey his message. Namatjira does not paint what is on the face, but what is behind it. His works at surface value may just be portraits of famous people, but he is using them as a way to reroot his