Two Lines of Dialogue That Explain All Paintings

January 1, 2024 Two Lines of Dialogue That Explain All Paintings

I’ve always wondered why Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte includes a monkey. According to Brittanica.com, Seurat was depicting “Parisian stereotypes. For instance, the woman standing in the right foreground, with the striking bustle, is identified by her pet monkey—symbol of lasciviousness—as a woman of loose morals.” I don’t know if that’s true — of the painting, the woman, or monkeys generally. Personally, I imagined the monkey belonged to the man standing beside her — which then triggered a two-line dialogue in my head. I now think all paintings should be interpreted through the same accusation/denial exchange, with an implicit pet monkey poised just out of frame.

I’ve added speech balloons so you can see for yourself.

Grant Wood’s American Gothic:

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes:

Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper:

Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People:

Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss:

Here, try some yourself:

It even works for single-figure paintings too. Just pair your favorites.

Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa:

Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and James McNeill Whistle’s Whistler’s Mother:

Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat and Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog:

John William Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott and Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June:

John Everett Millais’s Ophelia and John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Madame X:

You can mix and match, and even reverse the dialogue.

Which lines do you think these paintings should speak?

Tags: pet monkey, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

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