Peter,
I'm not saying that every disturbing image is a "con" or that life should be viewed through rose colored glasses either. Shakespeare provoked us to think and feel, to love and to despair. Western civilization does indeed have much to be ashamed of and much to exalt over.
There are images of war and suffering everywhere we turn, we see them and mourn. Sargent painted the gassed soldiers of WWI and many other battlefield pictures. Although they were reality and a grim testament to the time, they were beautifully and most importantly of all, tenderly done. they were not executed for shock value.
Let me put it this way...there are movies and there are movies. This portrait reminds me of the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre". I'd much rather see "Shakespeare In Love."
I paint because I am (and it is an obsession to create).
Cheerfully,
Alicia
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