Ana Juan "New Yorker Cover"

         Through her New Yorker cover, Ana Juan asserts her patriotism and reminds us all of our loyalties to our country and the importance of our country's history. She does so by painting the New York skyline reflected on the river, with only the reflection displaying the Twin Towers and the actual skyline without them. Her purpose is to remind us, over 10 years later, never to forget the loss America sustained when the Twin Towers were attacked and to instill within us national pride. By using dark blues and grays, Juan creates a sad, nostalgic tone within her painting that generates those same emotions in viewers.

         Questions:
         1. I think this painting is a beautiful representation of the past and the present. The present is portrayed as the New York skyline, which is at the very top of the painting. The past is portrayed as the Twin Towers in the reflection in the river. The Twin Towers are clearly absent in the skyline, which is fairly small, but they take up most of the actual painting. There is a huge difference in size between the two. Perhaps this is meant to represent how large of a loss it was. We didn't simply lose two buildings, we lost our sense of pride in our country. The Twin Towers fell and left behind a space- the physical space where they stood and a space in our country's heart.
          2. I really love this painting, which is one of the reasons why I chose to write about it. I think it's beautiful and symbolic. I love how the artist is able to get her message across so clearly without words. The painting certainly speaks for itself, and I really like that. 9/11 is one of the most important events in America's history, and I think that sometimes we don't think about it as much as we should have because it happened in our lifetime. In 50 years from now I'm the history books will be filled with information about it and people will recognize its importance, but as of now, we don't really have that. Sure, we have a commemoration every year, but we need to understand how it affected us and how it continues to affect us. I think this is what Juan is trying to get us to do.
          3. I definitely think this painting is an example of "a picture is worth a thousand words." It's the same thing as any other powerful picture from 9/11 but in some ways it's even more impressive because of all the symbolism. I don't really know how to explain how this painting is worth a thousand words, it just is. Whenever you see something so powerful it's hard to explain why it's powerful. Looking at this painting makes me feel patriotic and sad all at the same time. It's a very mournful painting, and sometimes those are the most powerful.