Tell me why The Gross Clinic by Thomas Eakins is a good painting.

[Matt Chylak]

please.

[Derka Derka]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gross_Clinic

[.invisible ink.]

i'm not sure exactly what you're looking for in an answer to this but the first impressive thing i notice about this painting is the way the light hits the man in the center's head. the lighting really sets the mood in this painting. it's curious to me as to why the doctor (?) looks completely spaced out and deep in thought while the others appear to be working hard to perform surgery. and what the heck is going on with the dude to the left of the doctor crouching? the painting captures a lot of different emotions at once.

[Animalhill]

It could also be said that the 'lead doctor' (one who is paused in thought) could be the reflection of the artist's moral dilemma over public surgeries like this (notice the crowd). It speaks of a past era of medicine. I dig it.

[ohioforlovers]

The painting is called the Gross Clinic obviously because the main doctor's last name is Gross. I think it's a good painting because it has all of the main points of good design. The DOMINANT feature is the body that is being worked on, it stands out from the rest of the dark picture with its lighter colors and brings your eye to that part of the painting first. The SUB-DOMINANT features are the head of the main doctor, the fact that he stands out above the rest shows you that he is in charge. The other men in the painting can be said to be the SUB-ORDINANT features, as they stand out but do not take the effect away from the main doctor and patient. There is not much color to the painting which shows it is not a happy time, but a dark time, the man crouching could be a family member of the patient, who knows, but he does look very sad.

[Dymytry Vance]

It's a matter of opinion, it's subjective, not set in stone. One may find the painting a wonderful display of a variety of emotions, another may find it completely emotionless and move onto something else. You either like it or you don't, it's not like it is 100% good in everybody's eyes. You shouldn't have to ask others why a painting is good, if you asked yourself and you couldn't find out why, then there's nothing you can do. You should understand why you don't like the portrait instead of why others do. I highly doubt you like the portrait if you have to ask others what they find so appealing about it.

[SAY WHAT]

why should we do your homework