The Oyster Eater By Anna Swinbourne

The first painting that amazed me was The Oyster Eater which was painted in 1882. According to the book Museum of Modern Art, written by Anna Swinbourne states that: “The Oyster Eater is a life size image that shows his sister Mitche absorbed in a meal of oysters at a table conspicuously set for two. An array of flowers, dishes, and linens spreads out in front of her. Betrays Ensor’s overarching interest in the power and qualities of light, and particularly in its ability to enliven both objects and place. This painting looks to me as if it was painted sometime in the 19th century and the style of it is impressionism. The cultural/political context of the painting is that “The Oyster Eater, the shimmering liquids in the glasses and the reflections of light already reveal the painter's interest in the power and quality of
For him it is the opposite of line, which is in itself the "enemy of genius" and "cannot express passion, anxiety, struggle, pain, enthusiasm or poetry, such beautiful and great feelings…" As I was looking at the painting of The Oyster Eater, it reminded me of the painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife by Jan Van Eyck. The reason it reminded me of this painting because they look really similar to me in different ways even though they also have a lot of differences such as the red background that they both have portrayed in the paintings. Also the people in the both of the paintings look wealthy because of their clothing. The textures of the paintings are done professionally that it feels like I can touch it and feel it. James Ensor’s and Jan Van Eyck’s painting show a lot of value in their clothing. Besides value, they both use rich colors to show the value of each item in their art work. The painting displays a woman eating dinner alone on the dining