Sunday, November 7, 2010

"By the Little Green Gate" by Lilian Miller

Learn about the artist Lilian Miller (1895-1843) and view more of her work here.

The bright and airy colors in this print first caught my eye. This combination of blue and yellow with a splash of red reminds me of Frida Kahlo's kitchen. I saw the kitchen fifteen years ago during a tour in Mexico (Kahlo's home is now a museum) and that wonderfully striking combination of colors stayed in my memory. It seems playful, joyous, as childhood should be.

Like a kitchen, this image illustrates a domestic setting: a girl just outside a home, a woman (perhaps her mother) peeking out at her through a doorway. Due to the perspective, the girl towers over the woman. The top of her head even rises above the wall that separates her from the outside world.

So much is simplified in this image. The leafless tree, the solid blue sky, the girl's face turned just enough to make her anonymous. She could be any girl, the center of her own universe, soon to outgrow her world and enter a much larger one.

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