Wolfgang Hutter: Museum Analysis

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For my second museum visit I went to the Tampa museum of art on the 17th of April. There were several pieces located here with a majority being antiquities such as sculptures or pottery. In addition to these, there were oil paintings as well. Out of these, the painting that I found interesting and will discuss was made by Wolfgang Hutter and is titled Rebus Game. What is interesting about this title is that rebus is a riddle formed by pictures or symbols that are representatives for words and meanings. This is almost as if it is a challenge by the artist to figure out the hidden meaning in his work. When first looking at the painting the vibe is one of a fairy tale due to the bold colors. There are several plants in this paining that are …show more content…

In the background there is a single wall that is missing supporting structures. There is, however a doorway cut into this, but there is not actually a door. It is behind the man and the woman, but it is between them so it may symbolize a passage between the two worlds. In addition, immediately in front of the woman is a flower. It is the size of a tree, but is on the ground after collapsing from its own weight. Besides this, there are a couple of other collapsed flowers as well as ones that are still standing, but are leaning as if they are about to fall. This gives the scene a sense of implosion as if the woman is living in this fantasy land that is falling apart upon itself and thus forcing her to decide whether to stay in her fantasy or leave with the man. From this puzzling thought several questions arise, such as: What does the fantasy aspect of the world represent and what do the dark undertones symbolize. Another question I would have for the artist is why the man in white is standing behind an obelisk with a subtle rectangular indentation in it and what that means. In addition, there are several other hidden obelisks in the painting, so they must also yield meaning, however it is not obvious what it