The title of the picture is "Surrender" I believe. But the artist makes the statement, "I suppose it could be about surrendering. Or, it could be about faithfully upholding the standard, despite injury....you decide." The words I suppose make me think that the first statement (to surrender) is the artist's least desired outcome, whereas the later portion of the statement seems to come across more positive and therefore makes me thing that is his desired outcome. That being said, it doesn't mean we still can't dissect it as he has said we can do.
A man, wearing a basic white long sleeved, button down shirt with a blue and orange striped tie looks average American with his blond hair and blue/green eyes (I think, hard to tell). His face is rather chiseled and gaunt looking. Of the face, his eyes stand out the most to me. They appear to be tired, maybe not so much from lack of sleep as much as just tired of his life. There seems to be a deep sadness or a loss of hope inside the eyes. They lack the sparkle of life, but do tell a story. The man's lips are pursed together with no real expression. Overall, his face tells a tale of a man beaten down in some way.
In the man's right hand is a pole with a white flag attached to the top of the pole and the flag is fluttering in the air. The other hand (his left) is held straight up, hand wide open, in a defensive posture as if someone was coming at him and he held up his hands stating he is not a threat, or that he means no harm.
Next is the wound. Around the collar of the neck is blood that has dripped down. The shirt pocket over the heart also has blood. I believe the blood in the pocket is from the neck, however, the drop from the neck is not connected to the drops in the pocket. I don't believe this is a mortal wound, but one that is open and bleeding. Now, I am no Art History major, so I do not have the knowledge to dig beyond the surface of a bleeding wound and its many interpretations. My question is, who made the wound? Was it by someone else or self inflicted? The flag and the defensive hand make me think it has been inflicted by someone else. Is it a persistent bleeding, a wound that never heals?
White flag significance. Well, my only knowledge of the use of a white flag is during military action to show a sign of surrender or truce. I decided to take a moment to look up some additional facts. After getting through the Dido stuff, I found some more in depth meaning for the use of the white flag.
Wikipedia offers this:
- The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and request for negotiation. It is also used to symbolise surrender, since it is often the weaker military party which requests negotiation. A white flag signifies to all that an approaching negotiator is unarmed, with an intent to surrender or a desire to communicate.
- The first mention of the usage of white flags to surrender is made during from the Eastern Han dynasty (A.D 25–220). In the Roman Empire, the historian Cornelias Tacitus mentions a white flag of surrender in A.D. 109.
- In Buddhist countries, white is the color of mourning.
- An unadorned white flag was the standard of the Stewards of Gondor in the Middle-Earth legendarium of author J.R.R Tolkien.
If I try to tie this all together, the flag, the hand, and the wound make the statement of defensive posturing, a truce. You or it wounded me, I am tired and bleeding, I give and seek truce. That would be the obvious depiction. To be honest, without personally knowing the artist, you wouldn't really look for anything else, but he has asked you to. As I said, he used to be a friend of mine, so my guesses may not be as objective as they should be, and are based on what I did once know about him.
This is a personal painting. I am guessing it holds personal significance to the artist. I don't think he drew this picture as a desire to make the statement for truce or surrender, but rather as a statement about protecting his beliefs or standards he has set for himself. To defend no matter the cost, so to speak. But the flag and the eyes paint something else to me. The white flag is such a unique symbol that I can't think anyone would guess beyond the "surrender" aspect of it. Maybe the man in the picture feels his "standards" are somehow being attacked upon, therefore, he sees himself as a victim of this attack, wounds and all. I really can't say. Usually people who fight for (or uphold) what they believe in often times carry an armament or ornament of that which they are fighting for (more offensive/active posturing), not a surrender flag, so I am at a loss there. The eyes are still very defeated to me, so the man must be at his wits end and exhausted either from the fight itself or the toll it has taken on his spirit.
All that being said, I could be completely wrong. Maybe he is a Buddhist in mourning and had a bad morning with the razor? After all, the shirt is white as well. I guess that is why no one can really know the true intentions of an artist. It is theirs alone. But the speculation is the fun part.
That is what it is like going to the museum with me. Painful, my husband would say, but I like to dissect and analyze most everything. It is all part of a larger picture to me. This one painting came from some place inside this person. It tells a story, one that he wanted to share.
I also find it fun to try and dig around for more information. I guess that is why I view myself as a perpetual student. There is always something new to learn about a person, place, or thing.
*My absolute favorite Sarah song. It may or may not apply to this post.*
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