Alfredo Ramos Martinez’s (Casamiento Indio/ Indian Wedding), an oil on Masonite from 1931, is an example of portrait painting. Martinez chose complementary colors to give the painting a dramatic effect, which helps add low value contrast. This painting is an example of Romanticism art which can be seen in the subject matter and artistic style of the artwork.
Romanticism is an artistic movement that began in Europe which started near the end of the 18th century. It influenced a lot of artists that specialized in literature, painting, and music in Western culture. This type of art movement helped express the feelings of an artist aka free expression. Knowing what Romanticism is spiritually, it is made of very emotional and powerful spontaneous…show more content… Judging by the mood of both the male and female, it seems that they are showing mixed facial expressions. Usually in present weddings, most couples smile and laugh. However for this painting, the couple look very serious, loyal, and concentrated. This painting actually has several visual elements to it. First, there is a focal point towards the couple. The couple is posing right in the middle of the painting, which is part of the focus of the art piece. Another focal point is the flower that the female is holding. The flower is a focal point because it automatically shows that the female is quite feminine. Secondly, the painting is also static. From the front angle, it really seems like the married couple is posing by standing still and being focus. This allows the painting to look narrative and be more detailed with the way it is painted. If you look at the whole painting as a whole, there is actually more meaning to it. The main visual element to this is actually the mood of the couple, which is its low value contrast. The low value contrast means that the painting contains low darkness and lightness that gives a sad and eerie feeling. The reason why this painting seems sad and eerie is the way the couples look. They are not smiling nor showing any type of positive expression. The painting is also dramatic because the way they look and hold hands doesn’t seem to show actual feeling, but shows an eerie