Just by reading their names, these artworks, “The Juggler” by Remedios Varo, and “The Anxious Journey” by Giorgio de Chirico gives the audience insight into what they may be about. “The Juggler” visualizes an idea about someone performing an act of skill and balance, sounding a bit more playful. “The Anxious Journey” gives an idea of uneasiness and gloominess, making us envision a possible exploration we may go through with this piece.
Remedios Vero created this piece during the mid-20th century, gathering inspiration from her dreams, surrealism, and the idea of enlightenment. Through this, she creates a piece that combines both the natural and unnatural, creating a dreamy and magical sense to it. Giorgio de Chirico also created this piece in the 20th century, but a bit earlier on. During this time, the world was anxious about wars and surrealism was on the rise, in which his works reflect on the existential angst, giving it a gloomy and unsettling feel.
None of these pieces involve text, but that also adds onto the perception of them, further highlighting their mysteriousness and uncertainty. The vibrant colors of “The Juggler” give it a feeling of fantasy and wonder, especially when they are centered around the magician or juggler in scene. The dull and dark colors used in “The Anxious Journey” gives it a lonely and isolated feeling, making us feel eerie when looking at it.
Even the way these paintings are dimensionalized adds onto these themes. The long shadows and pillars of “The Anxious Journey” add onto this uneasiness and disorientation. This piece is also alienated, as no person is in sight, only the empty building and one far off into the distance. This may cause reflection of solitude, thinking about times when you felt truly alone. On the other hand, “The Juggler” brings us into a realm of reality and imagination, as we are given this mythical and magical creature juggling glowing orbs. It brings a sense of curiosity as it breaks the realms of reality, making us question many thinks about it. Who is the juggler? Who is the person in the cart? Why are these people so interested in what the juggler is doing?
While both pieces differ in many ways, they both use symbolism, composition, and rhetorical situations to their advantage, making us, the audience, capture a new perspective the longer we examine them.