Analysis of David Hockney's Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy and Sir John Everett Millais' Ophelia

This presentation provides an analysis of two famous artworks, David Hockney's Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy and Sir John Everett Millais' Ophelia, including their description, interpretation, and judgement.

Visual culture-
Analysing two art pieces
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Description
Artist: David Hockney/ 1970-1971
Title: Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy
Type: Acrylic Painting
Subject: The painting depicts the couple Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell in their flat after their wedding with one of their cats
Blanche on Clark's knee.
Objects in the artwork: Clark is sitting on modern metal-framed chair with cigratte on his left hand and bare feet on thick
pile of the rug. There is telephone and lamp on the floor to the right of Clark and a plain table on the left of Birtwell
supporting a vase filled with lilies and a yellow book. There is also a framed print on the right of Biortwell.
First Impression: The painting creates image of modern couple, the successful young couple seem stylish and confident. The
painting holds unique appeal because of the realism and virtually life sized subjects of the painting.
Colours used: The painting utilizes muted colour shades to create cool felling. Admits this, the red colour of Mrs Clark's
dress and Blue Jumper of Mr Clark stand out. The yellow colour of the book on pale white table is also eye catching.
Shapes Lines: The painting consists of flattened surfaces and creates silhouettes with emphasis on lines and shapes.
Light Saturation: Contre-jour technique is used in the painting and the window between the couple is the light source. This
creates backlighting of the subject and every subject in the painting is set against the light.
Sensory qualities: The mood is naturalistic as the painting depicts relationship between a couple.

Analysis
Hockney has successfully created naturalistic painting by using large canvass and creating virtually life sized
subjects set against lighting using contre-jour techniques. The subjects of the painting are looking directly at the
viewer which creates a third in the relationship of this couple (Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy, 2021).
Interpretation
This distance between the couple along with the direction of their stance creates an image of independent
modern couple. This also creates a third in the couple which depicts the distance between the couple. The
symbolism and composition of great artworks of the past can be seen in this painting. This includes Rake's
progress and The Arnolfini Portrait. Hockeny's version of A rake's progress is seen on the wall. On the other
hand, composition of the painting is similar to The Arnolfini's portrait and lines near Mrs Clark depict
annunciation as she was pregnant during the time of the painting. All these factors state that the relationship
between the couple is not goof which is prophetic as the couple was together for only four years.
Judgement
The effort put in the paining to create naturalism makes it one of the greatest pieces of modern artwork. In addition
to this references to past artworks to create symbolism also increase the significance of this paintings and help
easily communicate the relationship between the couple.

Description
Artist: Sir John Everett Millais / 1851-1852
Title: Ophelia
Type: History Painting
Subject: The painting depicts the tragic death of Ophelia which is character from famous Shakespeare play Hamlet. Ophelia is
singing before drowning in the river.
Objects in the artwork: The main subject of the painting is Ophelia is wearing gorgeous veil laced with silver. The top of the
image consists of an uprooted willow with a chump of shrubs and cluster of aquatic plants in the lower left. The flora
surrounding the river is also presented in a detailed manner.
Fist Impression: The face of Ophelia is attention grabbing element of the picture because of detailed a subtle expression on
the face. Apart from this the detailing in natural surroundings of the river in the painting takes the viewer to the scene of
Certitude's speech in the play.
Colours used: The painting features rich colours of nature against the soft skin tone of Ophelia. The dark vivid colours of
Ophelia's surroundings play well with the light colours used on the main subjects body.
Shapes Lines: The portrait has arched top and there is line separating murky grey backwater from the natural green landscape.
Light Saturation: The darkness surrounding the main subject and interactant details of the body of Ophelia submerged in
water make the painting more appealing.
Sensory qualities: The detailed painting and symbolic usage of realistic fauna creates melancholic mood.

Analysis
Millais has effectively utilized symbolism of fauna and colours to set the scene from the Shakespeare play and
depict the story of Ophelia. The positioning of Ophelia's hands is in orans posture which represents submission
to gods will as she approaches death,. In addition to this the dark backwater surrounding Ophelia
communicates the melancholic fate of the Shakespearean Heroine (How Ophelia is represented in nineteenth-
century English art, 2018). The painter has been successful in communicating the overall story of Ophelia as
the clothes of the character depict that she is upper class noblewomen and various detailed symbolism depicts
the unlucky future.
Interpretation
The depiction of Ophelia as a woman in this painting reflects the social and cultural conditions in Victorian
Britain. The balance of the image is complicated and self-contradictory. On one hand the painting looks stable
because of its suitable spatial structure between all elements and on the other hand every element of this
painting looks delicate with possibility of breaking up (Symbolic Death of Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais,
2021). Ophelia's face attaches the death of the character with tenderness and beauty rather than fear and
ugliness which is another contradiction. These contradictions are a reflection of Victoria era which exists in
historical agency such as death and beauty. This painting successful distorts the horror of death and connects
with beauty, which reveals the part of myth of 'madness' shaped by the painting which makes people naturally
believe that such a morbid and mad face can be type of beauty as well

Judgement
This painting is an excellent artwork from the Victorian era which not only provides an insight into the cultural influences of the era but also successfully
represents the literature from where the main subject of the painting is taken. This is completed by detailed symbolism and effective usage of colour.