Las Meninas

Las Meninas. I've realized by now after reading the essays by Bal&Bryson and Foucault, the painting is famous. Not to mention, Picasso, the Picasso, painted a rendition of the original that is just as famous. You know a painting is legitimate when Picasso paints his own interpretation of it. Just kidding. But, this painting is legitimate in many, many ways, especially in the way Foucault describes the intricate connection between the artist and the viewer within the painting. The first thing I noticed was the fact that there was an artist in the painting, complete with his paintbrush and easel. I usually think of the artist as a third party when I view an artwork. He or she is sitting there with a paintbrush in hand, painting the painting, not painting himself painting the painting. But that is essentially what Velazquez did. That forces me to think of the artist from the beginning and now the artist's intent becomes my intent when viewing the artwork. I think about why he painted these subjects, who these people are in relation to Velazquez, and so on and so forth. Because there are so many other subjects in this particular painting, my mind will wander off to different people in the painting but it's interesting that the artist will situate himself or herself among the subjects, creating a sort of depth and level.

Speaking of depth and level, I just wanted to post a picture that I took at the High that illustrates the concept. Yay for visuals!