These lines serve to draw the eyes of the viewer from place to place in a picture, increasing the dynamic effects of figures and objects depicted. In this picture, the outlines of the animal and human figures are more sofly delineated than in many expressionist images, since she relies more on the symbolism of color and content than on the forms themselves to express herself. In this painting, the colors red and yellow dominate the picture. The colors enable the artist to create her own personal symbolism in the painting. As the bulls surround the figure, he or she stands out clearly and strongly in the picture plane, and refuses to be overwhelmed by the red of the bulls.
Color taking on a symbolic meaning is common in expressionist painting.
Paul Gauguin embraced this storytelling technique in the late 19th century. In an attempt to transmit to canvas a figure's heightened state of emotional response, the artist's brushstrokes often seem to tell the viewer that the same state is true of the artist. Strong, large swaths of aggressively laid paint seem to indicate an act of frenzy, where basic components of the composition are emphasized in big lines and layers of color. Isham's expressionist tool lies in the red and yellow juxtaposing planes, each bringing out the other's meaning. All rights reserved.