Analysis Of The Garden Of Death By Hugo Simberg - 1142 Words

In this essay the 1896 watercolour and gouache version of The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg will be discussed and analysed from three methodological art history perspectives: Biographically-based art history, Erwin Panofsky’s 3-stage method of pre-iconographic, iconographic and iconology, and Reception theory. The limits of these art histories will each be demonstrated. To begin, a biographically-based art history on Hugo Gerhard Simberg, who was born in 1873 in the Finnish town of Hamina. At the age of 18 he enrolled in the Drawing School of the Viipuri Art Association and two years later the School of the Finnish Arts Association where he met Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931), a Symbolist artist whom Simberg later studied under.†¦show more content†¦But upon closer inspection these areas are tied into the picture through the use of bits of yellow and blue on their white, reflected from the colours near the specific white area, for example the middle white area has blue reflected on it from the blue dots closest to it. The three figures are placed at strategic points so a diagonal line can be drawn to connect where they are standing, giving a sense of balance to the picture, though the true centre of the picture does not focus on anything in particular. The second stage is an iconographic analysis where â€Å"the viewer identi fies the image as a known story or recognisable character.† This allows the viewer to read deeper into the meaning of the artwork through the analysis of symbols which have preassigned meanings. The environment in this artwork can now be identified as a garden and the three figures related to death as they are skeletons. Whether they are each a personification of death, with the purpose of taking life, or simply a depiction of the souls of those who have died might change how the viewer understands the environment they are depicted in. The black cloak the skeletons wear is similar to that of the Grim Reaper, a