The Fall, Alan Stephens Foster
It is difficult to tell what exactly is being depicted n this image. A car is seemingly parked, at the back of the image is an angry man, possibly the driver of the vehicle, an elderly gentleman looks shocked as a young man leaps forward into another.The artist was alive between 1892-1969, unfortunately I was unable to find anything about this painting or even wen it was painted (so if you know anything please tell me) but a friend of mine noticed that the clothes are in the style of 1910-20 so it could have been painted around then.
(Sorry if the images are a bit blurry I had to zoom in on the image and it just blurred the pictures slightly but I think it's still clear enough to see what's happening)
Let's start from the very end of the painting. At first I thought that this man was possibly the driver and he was angry that he had to stop the car, however the car only has one seat which means that he probably is an angered bystander or maybe he knows the two young men in the image and is angry at them. When I first saw the painting I only saw the fury on the man's face, however I soon noticed that his hand was cocked as though he were about to throw a punch, his eyes seem to be looking at the two men beside the car so perhaps he is on his way to fight one of them.
Here we see an elderly gentleman standing outside of (what I presume to be) his car, the fact that he is also standing outside the car like the angered man could suggest that he and the man both plan on interjecting the two younger men or at least are planning on doing something other than just watch. The elderly man's face is one of shock and surprise rather than anger, he has his hands raised slightly as though he were backing away from the scene, his mouth is opened wide in shock but also perhaps horror or concern.
And now the main focus of the painting, the two young men at the right of the painting. Now upon first impressions it could seem as though the man on the left (L) could be lunging to perhaps push the man on the right (R) out of the way or is attacking him even. However, the way that L has his hand around the back of R's head, his fingers entangled in the man's hair suggests that it is more likely that L is embracing R, in addition the way that their forheads are pressed together and the way that R is holding L's side suggets that the men most likely know each other and are close, could they be friends? Perhaps even lovers? Either way I believe they have an affectionate relationship toward one another. However, lovers would be more likely in my opinion and would more easily explain why the elderly gentleman is so shocked and the other man is so angered.
In addition, I think it is likely that R knew that L was coming and this wasn't just a surprise lunge, to me, the fact that R had his arm on L suggests that he knew the embrace was coming and is preparing to reciprocate, further solidifying the idea that they are close in relationship.
Here we can see that the young man on the left seems to be leaping away from the closed car door, kicking off of the door and jumping forward to meet the other man. This could suggest eagerness and determination to reach the R.
(Now I am not entirely sure if this is the case because it could just be some paint coming off of his arm), in L's eyes there seems to be tears in his eyes and his brow is furrowed which, to me, could suggest that L is overwhelmed at seeing R, perhaps because they haven't seen one another in a long time?
Another interesting detail are these dark clouds that appear at either side of the painting. I had two theories of what these could be, one is much much more practical than the other but I like both so. My first, least practical, idea was that the dark clouds were perhaps to signidy the scenery around them, perhaps the dark clouds are meant to resemble plants od some sort? If this were true then behind the angry man there could be a bush or shrub and perhaps R was holding flowers hence why the cloud seems to be flling away from his hand. The more likely theory was that the clouds represented judgement of some sort. If they were lovers it could be judement of their relationship and if they were friends it coud be judgement of their actions and the way they are displaying their affection (however I think that the romantic relatonship is more likely and works better in this case), and if this were true then I think that I should note that the dark clouds stop at the two men and then start again behind them connoting that they are ignoring the judgement or just don't care what others think.
The title of the painting is something to look into as well, 'The Fall', now the obvious interpretation of the meaning of the title is that R is falling. However, I was talking to my friend and she suggested that if the men are lovers than the fall could be relating to how society views it, the events in the painting could show their revealing of their relationship and the title could suggest that society would see them as "Fallen". The romantic relationship theory could
Although there are many many many different interpretations of what this scene could be depicting, but my main thought is that either R was away for a prolongued period of time and this is a welcoming embrace as R makes his way home, however that hardly explains the angry man and the elderly gentleman, however if the men were lovers that could explain why, as I've said, the elderly gentleman looks so shocked and the other man looks enraged. Another theory could be that L is saving R from the angered man who might want to harm him, however, taking the analysis' I've made already it seems a lot less likely and I personally are much more in the mindset of this being a depiction romantic relationship between two men and the way society would have reacted to that in the period of time this was painted.
This work is also one of my favourites, not only is the image beautiful but also the endless possibilities of stories the artwork could be telling is very intriguing and although it would be nice to have a bit more information about the work, some context to help make analysis easier, there is also something very interesting in not knowing, because without the context the interpretations can be endless which is something I absolutely love.
The friend that helped me with these theories was @lost-in-frog-land, she helped me analyse it and helped me to notice a lot of details that I hadn't seen as well as giving her own, very interesting, inputs. So big thanks to @lost-in-frog-land!!
Last of all, once again, if anyone who reads this has any information on the artwork, like anything at all because I know basically nothing about it, feel free to let me know! I would be very grateful!
theartofmadeline
pixelskylines
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