We’ve asked our social media followers to interpret their favorite artwork at the Cincinnati Art Museum. They sent us their thoughts and feelings about the work of art they chose. Each week, we will feature one interpretation here on our blog. Below is an interpretation of Winslow Homer’s Sunday Morning in Virginia, by Andrew Palamara.

This painting illustrates the tension that we feel in hard times. We have competing impulses to worry and search for inspiration, like the people pictured here. Homer depicts the complex realities of life for freed slaves after the Civil War, reconciling newly gained freedom with past injustices. Recent events in Ferguson, Cleveland, and Staten Island have left me discouraged; there are too many parallels to the context of Homer’s work. However, Sunday Morning in Virginia serves as an important reminder to me that in exceptionally hard times, we have to lean on one another and the wise words of others in order to enact positive change.

Do you have an interpretation you’d like to share on CAM’s blog? Send your #MyInterpretationMonday to [email protected] and we will feature your perspective on an upcoming Monday!*

*We may not be able to post all entries we receive due to volume of entries and/or copyright restrictions.

Credit: Winslow Homer (United States 1836-1910); Sunday Morning in Virginia (1877); oil on canvas; John J. Emery Fund; 1924.247