DEVELOPED NARRATIVE: IGNORANCE

My initial reading of the painting was that the couple are deliberately ignoring each other. However, as I continued my research in the context of the painting my understanding changed, and I read the painting as a couple living in Upper Westside Manhattan 1932 whose relationship is suffering as a result of the challenges of their time.

The man works in the Financial District and is constantly worried and stressed after the Wall Street Crash three years earlier. However his wife, inspired by the Federal Art Project, is busy exploring her own artistic endeavours. His world is a disaster whilst hers is full of opportunity. They are both too wrapped up in their own circumstances to see that their relationship is in decline.

The Great Depression

Jackson Pollock