RSA Scottish Art
The Baby
 | Artist: Anne Finlay |
| Title: The Baby | |
| Year: c. 1940 | |
| Medium: oil on board | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| Description: Anne Finlay's work consisted of figure studies, flower paintings and landscapes.This painting, The Baby, represents both childhood and motherhood. The mother's facial expression is one of complete peace, and she is gazing with great love at her new child. The other child looks on her new brother or sister with fascination, sharing the moment of joy with her mother. Mother-and-child scenes are common in art history, with many painters using the Madonna and Child (Jesus and his mother Mary) as the inspiration to paint this joyful subject. At this moment, nothing else matters to the people in the painting except the comfort of the family group and the miracle of this new life.The figures are solidly modelled despite the soft, almost granular quality of the brushwork. The pastel palette, with its emphasis on blues and pinks, compliments the gentle nature of the scene. A soft hazy light illuminates the scene from the right, like filtered sunlight through a curtain. Details are not important here; what does matter is the expressions on the faces, the supporting hands and the comforting, soft shapes which suggest security and peace. The composition centres on the baby. The baby is the centre of attention between the mother and older child, and the baby's face is placed in the middle of the composition. The intensity of the scene is enhanced by the way the artist has compressed the space surrounding the figures, and also by the way they inter-relate and look in towards the baby at the centre of the painting. This composition allows the viewer to experience some of the intimacy of this very personal situation. | |
Find us on