7 Paintings You’ll Love If You Have A Pessimistic Soul

The same week news emerged that Donald Trump Jr. had met with a Russian lawyer that promised him dirt on his father’s presidential opponent, in Antarctica a trillion metric tons of ice broke off into the Atlantic Ocean —a chunk of ice so large a scientist said “Maps will need to be redrawn.” North Korea tested intercontinental rockets, war continued to rage in Syria, and grenades rained over a government building in Venezuela, and that’s just what’s been going on in American headlines. If this news update made you want to curl up into a fetal position and never want to leave the safety of your bed, rest assured you have a fellow curler upper in the writer of this article. Keeping up with what’s going on in the world can be a depressing exercise, especially nowadays, when every bit of new information seems to signal the end of days is nigh. Do not despair, though; there’s nothing wrong with feeling a little (or very) pessimistic. For as long as there have been human beings, fear, doubt, and sadness have had leading roles in defining our outlook on life and impressions on the state of the world. So if artists are our most sensitive and analytical humans, it’s no surprise that some of them managed to capture and portray pessimism in their work with staggering results.
The Black Paintings (1819-1823)- Francisco de GoyaThe truth is you could pick several other paintings by Goya that convey his deeply pessimistic view on humanity, and these do not necessarily belong to his most famous series, Las pinturas negras (‘The Black Paintings’). It’s hard to pick only one, which is why we chose two: Saturn Devouring His Son and Two Old Men Drinking Soup. They’re still as powerful 200 years later as they were when the Spaniard painted them while secluded in his farmhouse at the outskirts of Madrid.
After a career as a court painter, Goya didn’t mean for his final series to see the light of day. He worked on The Black Paintings as his personal project, for his eyes only, and as an attempt to convey the dark, violent nature of human beings he saw during the Peninsular War of 1808. Thankfully, they eventually emerged from the walls of Goya’s basement, and art critics continue to praise them as among the first examples of modernist paintings in history.
The Scream (1893)- Edvard MunchThe second most recognizable painting in history, after Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, The Scream has been endlessly copied, parodied, and reproduced by pop culture. Despite its playful depictions, the original is a frightening portrayal of the existential despair felt by a painter who struggled greatly to cope with the suffering brought upon him by disease and the death of his loved ones (especially his sister, Sophie, when he was 13 years old). He came up with this painting after a day when, while walking with some friends, he saw the sky turn red like blood and felt nature screaming.
Guernica (1937)- Pablo Picasso Goya greatly influenced Picasso. While painting Guernica, a massive canvas that depicted the bombing of a town in the Basque country, Picasso would constantly talk about Goya’s genius and like Goya’s May 3rd, 1808, Guernica is a powerful work or art that showcases war, violence, and humanity’s doom through symbolic images of pain and terror. Its depiction of the worst atrocities mankind is capable of has led to its status as one of the greatest paintings in history, and one of Picasso’s best works.
The War (1943) – Marc ChagallDespite the fact that this Russian-French artist is better known for his depictions of mystical scenes of lovers and flying animals, Marc Chagall was forced to flee Russia during the Russian Revolution, and France during the Second World War, moments that influenced his work and filled it with dark, violent imagery. While living in New York during the war, Chagall focused on the darkest side of humanity, just as Nazism had gained a foothold. He would often include depictions of a crucified Jesus in his work, to transmit suffering, along with the deep reds that were uncommon in his first paintings.
Polish Landscape II Jan 5, 1990 (Auschwitz) (1990)- Donald SultanDonald Sultan’s Disaster Paintings feature scenes of destruction and pollution. He uses tar to paint theSE images over large tiles, and his bleak outlook is strengthened by the deep, heavy black he mixes with the construction materials. When interviewed by the Smithsonian, Sultan remarked, “Man is inherently self-destructive, and whatever is built will eventually be destroyed… That’s what the works talk about: life and death.” Nowhere is this statement more evident than in his depiction of Auschwitz, the Polish death camp where close to 1 million people were killed by the Nazis during the Second World War, one of the darkest chapters in human history.
These Sunsets are to Die For – Shepard FaireyBesides war, the destruction of nature has a great influence on many artists’ pessimistic outlooks. Global warming and climate change have become issues of great importance nowadays and humanity’s biggest looming threat. Street artist, Shepard Fairey, has produced some of the most intriguing artwork that aims to denounce unfair and destructive practices in our current society. His dark sense of humor dotes These Sunsets are to Die For with an increased intensity in the same way his predilection for bloody reds generates a feeling of doom approaching because of our own carelessness. Humanity has managed to depict horrors through a wide variety of paintings. If you want to know more about it, check out these:Timeless Artworks Of Pain And Anguish That Glorify Torture12 Paintings That Show How Strange And Frightening Art Can Be
Smithsonian
Huffington Post
BBC