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

The scene depicted is a mother’s birthday celebration which doesn’t look celebratory despite the bright colors of the foreground. The women in the front look younger and lying down looking tired in the heat of summer. In the middle of the piece, a different band of color, are three women sitting more upright. The women furthest up is wearing black and is the oldest. The subtle differences in colors and poses evoke aging. In the background, are weeping willows, which are dying, contributing to the visual references to aging. The composition places the mother, we presume, in the back, despite being the person being “celebrated.” There’s a cat clawing at the younger women could represent the anxiety of being independent, due to their mothers old age.

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 colors go from bottom to top: orange, yellow, dark green. The darker colors correspond to the age of the women depicted. The women closest to the viewer positioned lying down and wear pastel pink, which contribute to their youthfulness. The yellow band in the middle is not applied opaque, there is orange and green within, which make the women in this part seem like they’re in a transitional phase, between the bright foreground and glooming background. T olr a divided into bands, which means we look a the painting assuming some chronology. We also noticed that the painting is set up deliberately like it’s staged.

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

The museum chose to place the painting near related but different pieces. The info provided next to the painting gives up insight into the stage inspiration of the painting. It also gives reason for the title, Heat – it is a summer time gathering.

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