the cameron vs seurat painting analysis has been done to death so i humbly offer.... painting analysis during the rodin imitation scene.
sloane is in the middle of the frame in two ways! the painting behind her is equestrienne (at the cirque fernando) by henri de toulouse-lautrec. a woman rider is about to do a trick where she stands up on horseback, as the horse jumps through a paper hoop. the ringmaster is spurring on her and the horse with his whip, and they have a HEAVY eye contact going on. i love this for sloane because it perfectly describe her relationship with ferris - he eggs her on, just the same as everyone else. sometimes sloane is painted as this hanger-on, but she's just as chaotic as ferris is. (worse, sometimes!! she's part of this circus!!) and the painting even has a setting requiring an audience to view the performance. a GREAT choice.
ferris, of course, is completely obscuring his painting. the frame isn't big enough to contain him. he's so larger-than-life that it's like he's broken out of the confines of it entirely, blocking our view of the plate of apples by paul cezanne. this one is framed a bit weirdly, tilting a traditional scene at an angle and making the subject very very prominent. it's very 'in your face' for a still life. an apt description of mister bueller indeed
why even bother mentioning the painting we can't even see? WELL THIS IS THE INTERESTING BIT
the painting cameron is in front of is woman in front of a still life by cezanne, by paul gaugin. as in - she's sat in front of one of cezanne's pieces, and gaugin painted that cezanne painting too. it's not as direct a stand-in for ferris as the ringmaster, but you can definitely feel the presence of him here, if you know that ferris is stood in front of the apples piece. the woman isn't looking at the painting, but it looms over her shoulder.
then the actual framing is the best here. cameron is stood next to his assigned painting. the woman, his representation, is almost staring over his shoulder too! it's fascinating to think about how cameron doesn't feel connected to life (his 'frame') or himself, because he's looking at his life passing by without actually doing anything to change its course. he exists outside of everything. he's cut off from the ability to connect with actual experiences - at least, for now.