Art critique.

The Young Biologist by Paul Peel (born London, Canada West (now Ontario), 1860; died Paris, France, 1892)
oil on canvas, 1892


During our excursion to the Art Gallery of Ontario, this piece stood out to me the most. We saw it early on, but no other piece stood out to me in a way that I felt I would write my critique about it.


My initial reaction was that it is adorable. The moment depicted is a moment of discovery and intrigue. The stance of the child is perfect. The child is observing this new creature with a smile on his face, telling of his enjoyment and curiosity about his finding. Not only did the subject of the painting catch my interest, I do enjoy it on a visual level. Colour is apparent, but somewhat muted. It gives me the feel of an overcast spring day, during which this child may be able to observe many frogs and toads who are out in the damp, cool environment. I love the balancing of a child, who is quite small, against a frog, who is even smaller. The child would feel large and powerful, looking down at a little frog.


At the gallery, I could not find the name of the piece, but wrote down the name of the artist so i could search online when I got home. The title, The Young Biologist, suits it perfectly. This child is obviously quite young, but giving him the label of biologist because of his apparent interest in nature is kind of endearing. He seems to be carrying a small container or bucket of sorts, perhaps showing that he was outside, searching or hunting for something else in the bushes and trees around him. 
This is how interests and hobbies start. This one chance meeting between this boy and a frog could set off a life time of nature exploration and later scientific endeavours. It sounds intense, but it is true.


I don't feel that within this painting there is a deep message being sent, or a hidden meaning behind it. Paul Peel had 2 children, and sometimes used them as models, demonstrating a knowledge and admiration for a child as the subject of art. I am not sure if this is one of his children, but Peel is clearly able to capture a moment and display it on a canvas. Here it is a young curious boy, in a natural environment.


The use of space is noticeable in this work. There are two kinds of space. Positive space, which is "subject matter, content and design" (Schirrmacher and Fox, 2009, p143), and negative space, which "is the space left between or surrounding subject matter, symbols, or shapes (Schirrmacher and Fox, 2009, p143). As I mentioned in my critique, the boy is very tall compared to the small frog, creating the space around them. This space is filled the natural imagery, depicting the child's outdoor environment. The is quite a bit of negative space (the space not occupied by the child or the frog), but to me this highlights how they are alone, the observer and his subject, in the quiet nature, sharing a moment.


Reference
Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont,CA: Delmar.