Family Painting

Nancy and Olivia
Alice Neel, American

I think that the artist's point of view about family is that a family doesn't have to be the typical mother, father and two children, kind of family. It can be just a mother and child as well. I think that all that these two people have in the world is each other, which is a definition of family. A group of people who love each other.

This painting demonstrates the principle of design, emphasis. The artist is emphasizing the faces of the two people, because that is where the most detail is, and the mother's arm surrounds them, like a frame, so that you look there first. Another principle of design that the artist used is movement. You look at their faces first, but then you are led down by the mother's arms and legs, which are surrounding the baby. She seems to be trying to get as much of herself around the child as possible, as if she is trying to protect her.