Art Journal: August 17, 2011

Poverty is everywhere because of a lack of jobs, educational options, opportunities, and necessities, along with the fact that poverty is extremely difficult to get out of once in the cycle of poverty. In the painting studied today the artist is portraying poverty in a negative light because the people in the painting looked gloomy. The artist does have their clothes looking a bit ragged but to where they seemed to have been washed. They also do not have any bags full of personal belongs because they either do not have any or have a place to stay. The little girl is selling flowers, showing she may be to main provided for her mother, brother, and baby sibling. The message about poverty the artist is trying to get across is that people can get trapped by poverty and then can only hold out hope for their children to succeed. The little girl is holding yellow flowers which makes the contrast of how dark their clothes are more distinct, and they are also huddled together in front of the bars.