Girl With A Kitten

For the Final assignment, the image I chose to analyze and critique was Girl with

a Kitten by Lucian Freud. My first impression of this piece was that it was pretty

perplexing. There is not much happening in it besides a woman who seems to be

strangling a little kitten without what seems to be any remorse for doing so—so,

naturally, I immediately had questions regarding what exactly is happening in this work.

Though there is still so much to understand and comprehend about it, I initially liked it,

not just because it is another oil painting. It tells a story that I want to learn more about.

To start things off, let’s talk about form. This painting is exactly what the title

presents it to be, although not in the lovable, cute manner you would expect upon
The title does not lie, it’s a painting of a woman with a kitten,

though the title does seem leave out how exactly the two are interacted. The main three

visual elements that can be identified in this piece are color, light, and shape.

For color, it is pretty well balanced between dark and light colors. For the light

colors, there is the woman’s light blue shirt, the beige wall background, and the woman’s

soft red lips. As for dark colors, there is the woman’s hair, her eyes, the cat’s fur, and

arguably the woman’s skin color. It is pretty noticeable to the viewer that there is an

obvious use of value when looking at the woman’s face. The left side of her face is so

bright that it sharply contrasts against her dark, brown hair, whereas the right side of her

face almost blends in with the hue of the slightly darker wall behind her. Though there

are light and dark colors, all of the colors used are a duller color compared to the pure,

saturated color originating on the color wheel. The dullness of her face and hand can

almost make the viewer believe that without the contrast of her dark hair, she could even

blend in with the equally dull