Life’s Day or Three Times Across the River
A life time captured in one frame and in one setting. Albert Fitch Bellows, an American artist in the seventeenth century painted a canvas called “The Wedding Party”. With imagination, talent, and great insight Albert fellows was able to create a canvas that captures all the stages in a young woman’s life. For this reason the canvas was given two other names “ Life’s day “ and “ Three times across the river”
At first glance one is only able to realize a boat packed with well dressed individuals celebrating a young couple’s wedding. As the people help the bride off the boat their faces are not completely happy yet not entirely gloomy. This peaks the viewer’s interest to give a closer second look.
Once the oil canvas is examined little closer the eye catches a story that the canvas was meant to tell. The artist actually drew out the entire life of this bride. On the opposite sides of the painting (left to right) the artist draws out the two little paintings that are not seen from far. On the far right side of the painting the artist paints the birth and christening of the little girl with a long road ahead that leads to the center of the canvas that centers the actual wedding ceremony. And on the not so far left is a depiction of a funeral. All these events are drawn alongside a long road which may symbol the journey of life. The distance between the wedding to the funeral is much shorter than the distance between the wedding and birth, this may be to point out that death doesn’t come too far after marriage. Others may say that this is so simply because there is a bigger time span between birth and marriage than marriage and death at that time (Albet’s time).
This piece of art provokes a lot of questions and can be interpreted in many ways. It definitely catches the viewer off guard that such a simple canvas can has such vast interpretations and deep meanings. When one walks by this painting at the Brooklyn museum he might first find himself passing by just to get a hold of what seems to be a sweet picture with serene colors but a closer look at “The wedding” will definitely have the individual looking for all the museum’ s suggested explanations .
