#1

This painting shows a scene from the Japanese Occupation. From the painting, I can sense the fear from the prisoners as the Japanese soldier is about to hit them with his rifle. It would seem that they are being herded to a camp for holding prisoners-of-war, or worse, execution. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be living under such harsh conditions and seeing visual representation of the past gives us a better understanding of it than reading it in a history textbook.

This painting seems to show a scene at a crowded market. Everyone seems to be busy preparing their wares or services. The man pushing his noodle cart stands out to me in particular. I can feel the strength required to push the cart through the lines in his arms and the tiny details the painter has added. Besides that, I feel that the painting evokes a sense of life, through creating such a busy looking scene.

#2

This wood cut of The Matchmaker invokes a very different feel from the social realism paintings above. Due to the almost comic-book like style, it does not seem as “real” as the paintings. While we can still tell that the girl in the wood cut seems a little annoyed at the advice being given by the elderly woman, the old woman almost looks like a caricature, with how exaggerated the lines on her face are.

#3

Beauty

Peace

Breezy