Still Life with Head- Turku Trajan

Still Life with Head 1950

Trajan, Turku (American (1887-1957))

Oil and charcoal on paper

39 ¼ x 29 ¼ in, 99.695 x 74.295 cm

Still Life with Head painted by Turku Trajan in 1950 has a calming effect on its viewers. This effect is due to the cool colors, the thick brush strokes, and lively movement across the painting. In the painting there is so much movement that the images of a horse and a woman are almost lost. You focus more on the movement and texture of the paint than the images it creates. This even occurs when you look at the painting from a distance.

Throughout all of his paintings the color has amazing effects. His mixture of cool blues, reds, and white in Still Life with Head has a very calming effect; whereas in other paintings he mixes reds, oranges, and yellows to make a very warm lively image. He consistently uses thick brush strokes, which add to his very active paintings. Your eyes are always moving.

Still Life with Head is good for a precedent image, or inspiration for designing a house. There are a lot of good design guidelines that can be followed from this image. Movement would definitely be an important word for this image, and for the space that is designed. Thick brush strokes also tell a lot about the way the space should look. The colors themselves can be used throughout the space since the artist took great care in choosing them, but it can also be taken less literally and used as a general guide, for instance, just cool colors throughout the space, with accents of warmer tones. The movement could be created through many different design elements and principles such as, balance, emphasis, rhythm, line, shape, texture, and color, as the artist has used.