Works of Art

Visual AnalysisShare

In the foreground, a group of women and children—some asleep, some seated—rest among their bags of belongings. The girl at the far right is covering her ears for a reason that is not visually evident. The figures have somewhat idealized features while their facial expressions and body language evoke physical and emotional exhaustion. Their clothing is a jumble of many patterns.

In the middle-ground, a wooden house serves as a backdrop to these figures. The “white” of the house is actually made up of very pale pastel blues, pinks, and lavenders. Alongside the house is an open field. Minkowski appears to have painted a ground layer of deep red before applying the tans and greens of the field.

In the background, a line of figures walks off toward the left edge of the composition. In most cases, their features are just barely painted. They carry their possessions. Given the implied distance between these background figures and those in the foreground, the scale shift seems exaggerated.

In the upper left of the composition, beyond the walking figures, whose arrangement resembles a classical frieze, are more houses and a very small fragment of grey sky.