“Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera

Art Analysis Essay

            The painting “Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera is divided into three different sections. The top section of the painting has a lot of tall buildings, e.g, (skyscrapers) with a lot of deep red and brown colors. In the top of the painting there is a lot of construction going on with the use of cranes. In the middle section of the painting there is a good amount of gray along with a man dressed in dark colors staring off into the gray. In the background there is a little light shining in the distance. There is also, a lot of graves that are colored gray that are in the middle section surrounding the man whose hair is gray. The man, who has gray hair, looks at all the people that are dead right in front of him. In the bottom half of the painting there is a lot of red and charcoal gray colors. In the foreground there is man sitting behind a desk that is green, and has a lamp on it. The man, dressed in dark colors, is standing behind the bars. There is a woman also in the background, but farther back than the man behind the bars. A bench, with a wood color, has a lot of people sitting on it.

            There are three main elements to focus on in this painting. The first element that I am going to analyze is the color of the painting. The top half of the painting has a lot of bright colors including red, blue, and yellow. The middle section has a lot of neutral colors including a bright white, a light black, and a darkish gray. The bottom section has a lot of earthy colors including earthy red, earthy brown, and an earthy gray. The foreground of the top section includes the top of a building. In the mid ground of the painting there is many cranes, and a train. The background of the top painting includes a lot of tall buildings. The middle section of the painting has a man with gray hair in the foreground, and in the mid ground there is a lot of dead people who are on the floor. In the background there is a bright white light. In the foreground of the bottom section there is a man sitting behind a desk, The mid ground of this bottom section has a lot of people sitting on a bench. In the background there is a man behind bars, along with a woman way behind the bars. In all three sections of the painting tone is present. In the top layer the tone is natural light that is displayed over the buildings, and in the sky with the clouds. In the middle section there is a tonal scale of light. The mid ground goes from medium to light in color. The bottom section of the painting has artificial light given off by the lamp. The room also seems to have artificial light coming from the ceiling. The tone in this painting changes because it adds interest to the painting.

            This painting’s meaning has to do with the GreGreat Depressionat Depression. This is because the date of the painting is in 1931, which is when the Great Depression was going on. The title of the painting “Frozen Assets” could help explain how it is during the time of the Great Depression. “Frozen Assets” to me means that everything of value was not worth anything anymore due to the Great Depression. I think in the top of the painting it is showing what this world could be, and how successful it could be. The bright colors in the top half of the painting can show happiness. The middle section shows people who have passed, and an older man looking at all the dead people. I feel that he is looking at them, and is understanding that he may die soon, and be like them. He also maybe is staring at the bright light out in front of him, which could mean that death is near. In the bottom half of the painting there are a man and a women who in my opinion are in jail, and there is people there on the bench to bail him and her out of jail. The man behind the desk is somebody who is in charge of the people who are behind the bars, or somebody who is keeping records for the prison. Banks can be like prisons because in a bank that is unsafe your money can feel trapped, like when your trapped in jail.

Annotation Notes:
The painting “Frozen Assets” by Diego Rivera is divided into three different sections. The top section has a lot of tall buildings (skyscrapers) with a lot of deep red and brown colors. In the top of the painting there is a lot of construction going on with the use of cranes. In the middle section of the photo there is a good amount of gray along with a man dressed in dark colors staring off into the gray. In the background there is a little light shining in the distance. In the bottom half of the painting there is a lot of red and charcoal gray colors. In the foreground there is man sitting behind a desk that is green, and has a lamp on it. The man, dressed in dark colors, is standing behind the bars. There is a woman also in the background but farther back than the man behind the bars. A bench, with a wood color, has a lot of people sitting on it.

Notes:

Line:

Bars on the bottom half of the picture light line

The building in the top half are vertical

The bottom half of the top painting has heavy lines

Tone:

The bottom half of the top painting is shaded

The middle half has a blended tone between all the grays

The whole picture is opaque

Form:

The person opening the bars on the bottom seems animated

Some of the buildings on the top half seem cuboid

The lines on the desk for the bottom painting has slow lines

Color:

The color in the bottom painting is sienna, and red

On the top painting, the cranes are a cool yellow color.

The bottom of the top painting has a lot of bold colors.