Self-Portrait as Wunderkabinett by: Julie Heffernan

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Self-Portrait as Wunderkabinett By: JULIE HEFFERNAN Oil painting 82 x 58 inches Describe: Julie Heffernan used oil crayons to paint Wunderkabinett. She used a variety of different soft and dark colors within the painting. This portrait takes place in mid 1900s Victorian ball room; the room is dark green with gold trimmings on the top of the room, and it has a similar Michelangelo, Sistine Shapel painting on the ceiling. In the center of the large room is a chandelier hanging down from the ceiling with a variety of colored balls spilling out from the chandelier and landing on the floor. The chandelier stretches halfway down the room, with many birds flying around the chandelier from the bottom right side, curving around the chandelier, and ending up on the upper left hand corner. The birds are smaller at the bottom, but as they fly up from the bottom, the smaller birds transform into large doves. There are two doorways in the room, one on the left and one in the center. The doors have a thick white wooden frame around them. On the walls of the room, there are five different portraits hanging. The paintings on the walls are pictures of scenery and girls. There are eight girls, scattered around the chandelier, staring at the birds as the birds fly away or into the chandelier. The girls’ eyes are filled with amazement. The girls seem like they come from high class families because of the large room they are in, the clothing they wear, and the large chandelier . All the girls are wearing Victorian clothing; the wired cage or hoop skirt helps make the dresses look puffy. All of the girls are wearing a different colored dress such as blue, pink, purple, green, and yellow. The carpet the girls are standing on is a dark green and red. ANALYZE: Heffernan emphasizes the chandelier as the main focus point. She uses a dark green color as a base, and then
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