Alexander Poulakis
Although both classified as modern art, The Old Mill (1922) by Chaim Soutine and Yellow Asymmetry (1959) by Guido Molinari couldn’t be any more different from each other.
To begin, The Old Mill is an oil painting of a very twisted scene of some sort of mill (based on the name of the painting), with an empty agricultural landscape, a river, and a few distant structures. Some trees can be spotted throughout the piece as well. Overall the painting is very dark, consisting of mostly earthy tones like forest greens, burnt reds and browns making up most of the ground and plants. Even the homes in the background have orange/brown bodies with red roofs. Across the painting is some white and dark blue, to represent what seems like a river, along with some more blues above to show the sky. In the center of the piece is some white, representing the mill (the focus of the work). The entire painting, mind you, is a deformed and twisted depiction of this scene I have described, with everything being “smooshed” slightly to the right corner of the canvas.
Chaim Soutine The Old Mill c. 1922-23
On the complete opposite side of the modern art spectrum is Yellow Asymmetry, which, at first glance, tells no story what so ever. It consists of ten unequally wide vertical strips of alternating color – red, black yellow, and white. The piece is actually somewhat symmetrical, but at the same time off center. The corresponding strips from the left and right ends moving in are equal in width. Along with that, the left side pattern almost mirrors the right, with the addition of another red strip to the left. It almost seems like all the strips are centering at the middle black strip. Overall the piece is very bright and really catches the eye.
Guido Molinari Yellow Asymmetry 1959
The two paintings differ greatly in style, subject, brightness, and color scheme. While The Old Mill is dark and showing the viewer something, Yellow Asymmetry is very bright and almost random. The age of each painting helps to answer the differences, for when compared to others of the same year there is great variety. The one similarity between the two, however, is how much they can be interpreted. The fundamental pillar of modern art is interpretation. What is seen by me may be completely different from what is seen by another. And that is why they can both be found at the MoMA.
