Call to Dinner

Recently, I went to the McMaster Museum of Art to the exhibition they have there called 125 & 45: an interrogative spirit. One of the most prominent paintings displayed was "The Call to Dinner" by George Agnew Reid.

The painting consists of oil on canvas. The colours are quite cool and pale, the skin of the woman even had a bit of a greenish tinge. The only colours that stand out amongst the painting are the scarf and the hat, both of them warm colours and much bolder than the rest of the painting. Reid obviously wants our eye to draw to the woman character as the colours contrast so much, but one needs to question why. Is she such a prominent figure? Why is there a lack of other people? If there were people, would she still be the focal point?

The woman is also composite in the foreground of the picture, bringing her closer to the viewer. This shows that she must be important as it brings our attention to her even more. She is searching for something and based off the name of the piece, she is perhaps searching for her children to call them for dinner.

This painting was featured prominently in the art gallery. Not only that, but there is also a large chalice of sorts in the stairs as you are going up to the exhibit and displayed inside, if you go up the stairs high enough, you will be able to see this painting carved inside.