Assignment 2

Audience: Classmate
Topic: Painting 1
Argument: "When in power one does not care about the feelings of others around."
Evidence: What we see, feel, and main points

In class, we examined the painting “Olympia” and pulled out information we thought was important. Based on what we saw, how we felt, and the main points that grabbed our attention, we were able to gather some evidence. With the evidence we noticed, we were able to come up with an argument. When in power one does not care about the feelings of others around.

In the painting, there is a white woman lying naked on a bed with her legs crossed. The lady is wearing heals and is propped up on her elbow. The woman has a flower in her hair. The woman has a bland look on her face.  At the end of the bed is a black cat. The cat is standing on all four legs. It is dark in the corner where the cat is, therefore making it hard to see the cat. By the way this was painted, I get the vibe that the woman is cocky. She looks as though she is looking above me rather than at me. Having her elbow propped up and the cat standing may symbolize that she has power over others. Her facial expression shows she does not care about what else is going on in the painting because she is already above them. I feel frustration when looking at the woman lie there on the bed and people serving her.

Kneeling on the floor beside the nude woman is a black woman. The woman’s face is barely visible. All you can see is a few small details like her eyes. She is holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand. The darker woman is looking down at the white woman. The darker woman looks as though she is bowing down to her. This may represent slavery. The darker woman is serving the white woman. The painting makes me feel uncomfortable because slavery is not a good thing. The nude woman could do something about it but because she has power over others she does not care, she is where she wants to be.

When looking at the picture my eyes immediately went to the white woman lying down. This is due to the fact that it had the most color. Everything else in the painting was dark. My eyes also went to the darker woman beside the bed because I was curious as to what she was doing.  After looking at the painting more deeply, I thought of slavery. The darker woman is the white woman's servant. By the look on the white woman’s face, one can tell that she has power and does not care about the well-being of others around.