John_Brack_Formal_Analysis

Formal Analysis In the foreground of the painting, Brack depicts a middle aged woman, with a sharp, defined facial structure, resting with both hands on the front most table of the painting, a cloth in her right hand. Dividing the image in half, the left half of the image is mostly occupied by the figure of the woman, while the right half of the image, in the foreground, is partly occupied by a grey drink dispenser. The middle ground of the painting, consists of a bar table up against a mirror. Upon this table, drinks to the right of the painting, a vase containing white and yellow flowers. Behind the woman’s figure, a rectangular, blue and white object and more to the left of the image, multiple salt shakers take up the rest of the middle ground. The background of the painting is cleverly depicted as a mirror, reflecting the other side of the bar, in front of the foreground. The mirror reflects the image of numerous, similar looking men drinking and standing expressionless, the image that the middle aged is smirking at. The painting can be divided into halves vertically and thirds horizontally. Vertically, the painting is divided by the positioning of the woman’s figure, taking up only the left side of the image. To ensure that the painting is not weighed to the left, Brack counterbalances the brighter, stronger figure of the woman with the vibrant colours of the flowers along with the heavier, bulky figures of the drinking men. Horizontally, the image can be divided into unequal thirds, by the line of the border of the mirror in the middle ground, and the line created by the bottom of the woman’s chin, continued by the equal levelled chins, necks and hands of the men. This line is accentuated by the contrast of the men’s skin tone with their darker coloured suits as well as the straight, broad shoulders of the bar tender. This vertical, symmetrical division of the painting gives the overall image a sense of balance, despite the fact that one side contains brighter, more saturated hues than the other. Common to all works of Brack, The Bar is painted with a stark hardness to the brush strokes, despite the fact that the figures portrayed are human figures. Each brush stroke Brack makes is bold and adds to the stiffness of the painting, to convey the mood he was trying to portray. The strong angularity of the lines used for the figures’ faces, and repetitive use of varying hues of yellow, brown and green further emphasizes the hardness of the painting. These colours, being warm, all recede into the painting, adding to the monotonous, humdrum, unattached mood of the painting. The cold demeanour of the painting seems to have been planned by Brack, and does not seem to show any means of spontaneity. Brack also depicts the immediacy and urgency of the typical bar in the 1950’s. Set at the time of the ‘six o’clock swill,’ Brack uses dark shades for the eyes of each figure, to show the detachment of each figure from one another and also to display a sense of alienation between them. Brack’s dreary outlook on this particular setting of the 1950’s is obvious with his use of unsaturated colours, with very little contrast between them. Brack’s clever use of the mirror allows him to show both sides of the bar, meaning he is able to present two points of views of those in the setting to show his own opinions concerning the general public.