If we are going to look at the lives of those who preceded us and consider them, the brushes of several painters recorded the amount of ease and peace of mind contained in many paintings.
In the minds of many, happiness may be linked to the ability to gain the most popularity on social media platforms. Others may think that peace of mind may be dependent on access to a certain lifestyle, reviewed on Instagram or otherwise, in which traveling to distant cities or roaming in luxurious places and living in homes with certain specifications is the only way to achieve satisfaction. It may be the other way around.
Psychological studies have been published showing the relationship between frequent access to the famous social networking site Instagram and depression. One such study shows how picturesque pictures of happy lifestyles cause anxiety and depression for less privileged social classes who can’t keep up with this showmanship.
It is worth noting that such high rates of depression or anxiety did not exist in the era before social media platforms. This is due to the fact that people were more immersed in their private lives, as there is no way to see the lives of others, and there is hardly any free time except that it is filled with family gatherings and real rather than virtual chats.
For a person to return from work after a hard and stressful day to find a home filled with love, even if it is poor or simple, is better than professional photos, one of which requires a certain pause, a certain look, a certain smile, certain clothes, etc., so that there is hardly anything left of the spontaneity of life except that it is killed by artificiality. And beautify for social networking sites. If we are going to look at the lives of those who preceded us and take into account them, the brushes of several painters recorded the amount of ease and peace of mind contained in a simple life in many paintings.
Happy family
The Italian painter Eugenio Zampeghi (1859-1944) presented in his painting “A happy family” a very simple house in terms of furniture and belongings; But he is very rich in terms of people and happiness. A cheerful mother preparing food and a little girl trying to feed a baby in the cradle and on the floor a chicken feeding little chicks.
The painting, like most of his paintings, is well-dressed and cheerful, albeit simple. The ambiance is lively and the colors flashing vibrantly. This simple, cheerful atmosphere combines realist school principles of painting and color with an entertaining and story-telling plot. Which makes Eugenio Zambighi one of the most skilled and talented fiction painters.
One of the family
The English painter Frederick George Cotman (1850-1920) presented this romantic scene of rural domestic life in his 1880 painting Family Member. The horse interrupts a rural family during breakfast, peeks out of the window, and the mother gives him some food.
The grandmother cuts bread for the family, the mother feeds the horse and the children gather around the table with the family in a simple and cozy country house. The painter mentions that this horse comes to their house every day, and the horse was always in the town of Cotman in England, where he sat at the table with his mother. The painter is the little boy sitting at his table.
The painting is drawn on the realistic doctrine and enjoys a great deal of harmony between the colors and the performance of the characters who move spontaneously as they eat breakfast. The table and the food are so realistic that some critics consider the painting to be a good example not only of Cotman’s craftsmanship or the simplicity and peace of rural life; Rather, it is an example of what the treatment of animals should be.
Grandma is the best
It is said that an Austrian painter called Adolf Hamburg (1847-1921) wanted to paint a sense of security, so he painted a very simple scene of a grandmother sewing her grandson’s clothes while he was lying on his stomach under her hands. The painting, titled Grandmother Is The Best, was a realistic depiction of a poor rural family living in a simple wooden house dressed in shabby clothes, but their simple house smelled of safety.
A grandmother holds her grandson and sews his cut pants while another granddaughter stands in front of her with a toy in her hand. Everyone shows signs of contentment and comfort despite the simplicity of the house in which they live. The little boy in the painting smiles at the viewer as if he had acquired the world and what is in it with the presence of his grandmother.
sewing loop
In The Swing Circle, the main image in this report, by the realist painter Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924), we see a soothing rural landscape; Where some women sit in front of their huts in the pastures, knitting some clothes and exchanging conversations. To the left of the group of women we see a large water well, and streaks of wildflowers add flashes of bright color to the canvas.
Knight’s paintings are the best representation of 19th century landscapes, rural life, and peasants. The accuracy of his talent and creativity reached that he was a prominent painter in the life of peasants. His favorite subjects included women in the fields collecting flowers.