Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso once said, “art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” Many times we look at a painting and we do not realize the stories that they depict. A painting may deceive you at first, but if you pay a closer attention to detail you may realize that it is the complete opposite of your initial reaction. Apollo’s Enchantment is an oil on canvas painting created in 1807 by an American artist, Benjamin West. West was born on October 10,1738 near Springfield, Pennsylvania to Quaker parents, John West and Sarah Pearson. He died in the presence of his own home from illness on March 11,1820 in London, England. The painting is 43 ¾ X 56 inches (111.125 X 142.24 cm), and is located inside the Dallas museum of Art. The rhythm in this painting feels slow and steady, almost forcing you to pay attention to the finer details within. The balance between characters in the painting is actual, they all weigh each other out. I believe that the rainbow circle around Apollo brings together unity between the others. Although the emphasis is on Apollo himself, the people around him are just as important, but you could probably say that they add just a touch of variety. The lines in the painting are very free and flowy, there are no defined lines, which makes the painting a little more relaxed. The shapes are very whimsical and the clouds create a sense of being in a dream. The colors in the sky and the clouds are darker making the painting feel warm, but the Apollo and the others are dressed in brightly colored cloths and are looking into the brighter side of things. The space In the painting is very two-dimensional with the sky and clouds being the background and Apollo and the people being the foreground. Although the main focal point is a large circle, the painting is asymmetrical because the people around it are all different. The clouds and the sky act as the negative space while the people and Apollo are the positive space.
To me the painting tells me a