Formal Analysis of Emil Nolde's MasksEmil Nolde's Masks is an oil painting that is currently on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. My first response to the still life painting was that of a very strange and bizarre, yet playful mood. The malicious-looking figures, rendered in rich colors, gave off a sense of horror without the dim, dull color scheme typically depicted in horror settings. At first glance, you might notice the disturbing smile or grimace on the face of each of the five individual figures. I believe that Nolde made the painting in this way to capture the viewers' attention in a way that provoked a sense of dread and affected their emotions. There are five long oval-shaped figures which one might assume were "masks" from the implied title of the painting. The masks, all different in size and shape, are displayed asymmetrically throughout the composition. You might immediately notice the negative space filling the lower left corner of the painting. It also takes up the space around the masks, as well as the holes in the and...