Xin You Chen        Bry Art Gallery    2/4/2015

Four Eyes         Nathaniel Allen    Oil, on canvas

    The Four Eyes painting portrays a front view on a still life ceramic bust on a almost clear,

white background. The bust depicts a tan-skinned man who looks to be in his thirties. The lower

part of the bust shows the top of a white button-up shirt with green suspenders at its shoulders.

The button-up was also loosely bow-tied at the collar with a thin, black strip. The long neck

sprouts from the collars of the shirt, ending with oval-shaped double chins. The rest of the face is

shaped in a loose oval as well, with the exception of two wide obtruding ears. Instead of

dangling normally in the air, the lobes of the ears are attached to the sides of the face. The figure

of the bust has a brown mustache over a small mouth, and one single lower tooth can be seen

jutting out upwards from the lip. The figure also has a round nose and round cheeks. The most

noticeable part of the painting is the bust figure’s eyes. Instead of two, four eyes dotted the upper

half of the figure’s oblong head. All four eyes are also crossed towards the center of the face. At

the top of the four eyes, four thin eyebrows line the forehead while neat brown hair that parts in

the middle lay combed over and fall just above the eyebrows. The four crossed eyes along with

the single tooth results in an overall comical expression.

    The artist uses mostly curving lines to illustrate the figure’s face and body parts in the

painting. Biomorphic shapes characterize the humane features of the figure such as the eyes,

nose ears and cheeks. The bust stands dominant against the background as a positive shape. In

the painting the bust figure seems to employ an open form of mass. The open collar, its wide ears

and comical expression interacts with the surrounding space, as if it is announcing and

acclaiming its existence. The painting uses techniques that imply depth to show the contours of

the face. He creates the ridges in the cheeks by vertical placement to produce the grin that is

shown by the figure. The figure’s brown hair colour as well as its skin condition (little wrinkles)

show the man to be middle-aged. Being a still life ceramic effigy, the painting does not give off

the impression of motion and the figure’s face seemed frozen in expression. The figure in the

painting is illuminated by a whitish light from the top right corner as the artist applied some

shading at the lower left and back side of the sculpture. The top of the piece also has a brighter

value than the rest. The figure’s tan skin as well as brown hair contrasts but not heavily against

the white background and shirt that it is wearing. Textures that exist in the painting include the

facial hair of the figure, the fabric of the shirt it is wearing as well as its smooth and scarless

skin.

    The artist uses a number of principles of design in the painting. Variety can be seen with the

black bowtie string as well as single white tooth which adds to the disorder. Little if any pattern

exists in the painting as there is no repetition of design elements. The artist paints the figure in

near-perfect symmetry, except for attributes like the parting of the hair and the single white tooth.

The artist also retains the realistic expression of human anatomy with slight differences in body

parts, for example the ears and their difference in alignment height. The bust’s face is

emphasized in the painting, with the eyes being the focal point. Subordination is used in the bare

and plain white background which draws attention away and towards the face. Directional forces

employed in the painting also helped bring the viewer’s attention to the focal point. The four

crossed eyes point at each other, directing the gaze to the other side of eyes. The bend of the

mustache as well as the bridge of the nose to form an imaginary arrow also guides the line of

sight up and towards the center of the face. The contrast of color in the whites of the man’s eyes

as well as that one single white tooth was also used by the painter to draw the attention of the

viewer to the face. There exists little repetition in the painting, yet rhythm exists slightly in the

eyebrows and contours of the chin and cheeks that all together form the lines of the overall facial

expression. The head of the piece was proportioned larger than its body to further emphasize the

main attraction of the painting, which is the four eyes.

    I believe the painting is drawing attention to itself and its creation. The figure in the painting

may represent two entities: one being the artist himself and the other being each individual as the

viewer. As the figure in the painting looks at itself, the artist may have produced the piece after

deliberate reflection at his own life and painted an illustration of that action. To add to that the

artist added an extra pair of eyes as if to further emphasize the amount of self-reflection being

done. The figure in the painting may also show how the artist looks at himself, which is a quirky

and comical person. The bow-tie, suspenders as well as the hair style suggests a type of

personality trait which the artist may feel he possesses. The painting also puts forward the

consideration that the figure in the painting may be all the individual viewers looking at the

painting. As the eyes of the bust in the painting looks at itself as a creation, so are the viewers

looking at a piece of art. With the addition of the extra set of eyes, the artist may be imploring

viewers to look at art productions with extra scrutiny and consideration as the painting is doing

to itself, inviting deeper analysis and criticism as though it is done with four pairs of eyes instead

of two.

    The first impression of the painting may not seem very impressive or deep, but through further

review the real value of this painting transcends its initial depiction. Hidden behind the comical

and ridiculous expression of the figure, the painting disturbs the viewer in separate levels, first

through its appearance, next through its implication. I believe the painting is very influential and

impactful on all art lovers, as it functions as a reminder to look, and keep looking at every piece

of art as you might just discover something new that was hidden from your first impression the

first time. I would definitely hang the painting in my home, and just to confuse my guests it will

be right beside the other best works.