Jeffrey Smart The New School Analysis

The New School, Jeffrey Smart

Jeffrey Smart’s work, The New School depicts a young girl standing alone, with dull man-made surroundings. She is standing in what looks like a school, hence the title of the piece. The girl looks sad and lonely, and we instantly assume she is new to the school; this may even be her first day. The young girl stands in the centre of the piece and has been placed in the foreground. Nothing is on either side of her, except in the background. She is standing on what looks to be a basketball court, or some kind of sporting court. In the background there are various buildings. Some are everyday buildings we can recognise; however there is a circular construction, behind the girl just to the left. To the side of this is also a playground, with three figures around it. One playing on the swings. On the other side of this circular construction is more buildings, and some bikes. This depicts a school environment. We also see buildings outside of the school which shows us that this school is in an urban environment. The colours are realistic yet this is a very dark piece. The sky is dark as well as the objects depicted throughout the work. When I view this work I am reminded of my first days at new schools. I am reminded of the fear of making new friends and meeting new teachers. I remember how scary the first day of school always was, and the anxiety caused by school.
Smart has used Polymer paint on canvas to create his piece. He uses bold lines throughout his work, this creates realistic shapes but mainly leads the viewer’s eye to other focal points. The main focal point in this work is the young girl in the foreground. Smart has decided to place her on a court, with the inclusion of many bold white lines. This technique is known as leading lines, these white lines on the basketball court lead the viewer’s eyes to the objects in the background. This technique helps the viewer to see everything that is going on in the work and makes it