Posted 13 years ago
samlapp
(8 items)
I got this at the artist's estate auction. He is better known for his pottery.
Little Worshippers - Steve Vasiliou - Original Pen and Ink
Little Worshippers - Steve Vasiliou - Original Pen and Ink | ||
| Prints1398 of 1685 |  |  |
Great piece of art. The subject matter, the gaunt faces and "weaponish" sticks make it look like the evil twin of "Little Bo Peep" is sending the starving orphans into religious war!! I have guite the imagination, as you can see. But I am very intrigued by the meaning of this painting. Why is the nurturing "adult " figure in back shadowy silhouette while the children, of all ages, look very poor and unkempt, then there are the sticks with the arrows pointing downward, so they are not spears, or are they some kind of spear I have not seen? I would sy that this is clearly powerful "social commentary", I am just not sure what they comment is!! What do you hink out thre in the CW think tank? What is the message or story of this picture? I am fascinated by the darkness, there is nothing frilly about this piece. I wish the artist were alive and I could ask him, as it really leaves me wanting to know more. Thank you for posting, Mich
I think they are candles as part of a religious ceremony. And I think the dark figure is a nun.
Candles, of course, duh, yet I still wonder what this artist felt about the poverty of these children and the dark figure representing "the Church". At that time, "Orphanages were little more than child labor warehouses. The church got the credit for helping the poor unwanted children, but those children would often end up working 10-12 hours daily, terrible food, hygiene, no doctors. Before the Child Labor laws, this was how the system worked. The churches had the orphans, the factories paid the church for the child labor, the kids were overworked and underfed, and MANY probably died of illness (on the job?) in their short lives. The Church has done the very very good and the very very bad. This picture tells me that this artist believes the church is a dark force in the lives of these gaunt and, if you notice their expressions, fearful and furtive looking children who are being shown as "Worshippers". They are clearly unkempt and desperate and not being well looked after by their shadowy church-nun character. This is my FACT-FREE OPINION!!! Told you I had an imagination, but this picture truly intrigues me. What was the artist saying. There is no Joy in these Worshippers... Mich the baffled!!