PMA Part II (Soothsayer's Recompense)

What drew me to this painting is how it is executed and the context in which it is displayed.    The room is filled with paintings abstracted by cubism and brought to life by a wide range of vibrant, highly saturated colors.  A perfect example of this it Pablo Picasso’s Three Musicians.  The bright color pallet and jagged geometric shapes are in stark contrast to the muted colors and comparatively simplistic composition of Soothsayer’s Recompense.  When compared to its neighbors, this painting kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.  Like I said before, this painting has a very muted pallet.  The yellows seen in the arch way, the shadows cast on the ground, and the train station in the background have all been brought down in saturation to a very dark mustard color, in some areas nearing gray.  Even the highlights on the white statue have been brought down with some yellows.  Meanwhile the shadows cast on the statue are a yellowish brown.  The horizon is also a yellow towards the bottom and then as it progresses towards the top of the canvas it turns in to a deep greenish blue.  I think these colors had a major role in attracting me to this painting.  Not only does this pallet stick out among its counterparts, but it also created a strong and uniquely subdued mood and tone for the painting.  This painting reminds me of when I would visit my granduncle down in San Antonio with my Grandparents.  When I look at this painting, I see a similar pallet to that of the desert area in San Antonio.  I am also reminded of the vast emptiness of my granduncle’s ranch, I see this mimicked in the barren space in front of the train station and surrounding the statue.   The room does not really smell like anything. There is probably a dehumidifier or something to keep the paintings from being damaged so the smell is not really having much effect on my interpretation of the painting.  While in the museum I did not hear any conversations about the piece from other people however, I feel that there was a conversation between me and the piece.  When looking at it, I wonder “Where is that?” the piece responds with the palm trees and what appears to be clay buildings native to south western America and Mexico.  I also ask “what’s going on with the wind?” If you look at the flags on the top of the building and the smoke from the train, they are both being blown in opposite directions.  I wonder “What is going on with that clock and why are there only 11 numbers on it? Is this some type of dream world or a real place that has been tweaked by Chirico’s mind?” As far as scale goes, this painting is a similar size to the other ones in the room (about 50 inches X 70 inches).  I feel that the painting benefits from being around paintings of the same size.  That way the subject matter is what makes the paintings stand out as opposed to how large or small a painting is.