What do you see going on in this work of art? Is there a story depicted?

I see the story of Chinese culture and the taking in of American culture as well. It is elaborated with the costumes of the production of Aladdin while also choosing a specific posture that the character sits in and a specific pattern for the robe that the actor is wearing.

What different visual elements (ie: line, color, light, proportions, scale, composition, media type etc.) do you notice, and how do they help you make sense of the artwork?

The painting is very symmetrical. Using a monochromatic background of black highlights the actor and exhibits the Chinese culture that lives with in. At hindsight of looking at this image, I had the feeling of an emperor sitting in front of my eyes. The symmetrical nature of the work exclaims the patterns that was inherited from the Qing Dynasty.

What choices do you think the museum made about the object’s display?

They put the other piece of art, cabinet together with it. The cabinet also shows a royal resemblance to something like an emperor of how it was seated. It seems like the cabinet belonged to the person depicted in the painting.

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