When looking at all four art pieces, knowing the culture that both Vermeer and Monet experienced, they feel peaceful and simple but evoke the question of how did they achieve the peace their experiencing? They communicate a story. The milkmaid pours the milk dutifully and with care, but almost too slow as if savoring the moment of the simple task and the peace that comes with it. The girl’s lips are parted as if to tell the viewer to enjoy the simplicity and peace of the moment before it’s gone and the trials begin again. Monet’s paintings of the waterlilies entrances the viewer long enough to create a moment of meditation and peace, until the moment is over and the trance ends. While the works tell their own story, the viewer’s own story is being contemplated and reflected upon. What periods in life have produced trials? Where have the periods of peace come from and how long do they last? Are the moments of peace more enjoyed, more appreciated because of the trials? As these questions …show more content…
That is personal experiences, previously formed perceptions of the world, and background cultures are what makes someone who they are and it can never come without bias or influence from the world around them. But that is what makes each experience and transformation that a work of art induces unique and dramatic. This process of interpretation is what is important and essential for meaning (Heidegger, 1971). The artist creates meaning from their own experience, from the process of making the art work. This experience is unique to them and cannot be duplicated. A person’s perspective is what influences their interpretation and through the interpretation meaning can be found (Heidegger, 1971). Therefore, the meaning of Vermeer and Monet’s pieces are not universal, for even the artist himself experienced it differently and interpreted a different