Gardner Museum by Theresa Rauh

               Things that are mysterious are always interesting and special in a way, because you don’t really know how to interpret them. They seem to carry a message, but you don’t really know what it is. One of the pieces, which seemed to really carry a secret in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, is El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent, 1882.

 El Jaleo, which is actually the name of a form of flamenco and means cheering, is almost 12 feet wide, broadly painted painting. In the foreground a woman in a white long dress dancing, one of her hands is leaning on her hip, the other one is pointing up. She is dancing very energetic. She is represented from the side. In the background there are three men accompanying her with guitars as well as two women seeming to enjoy her dance. One chair is empty, on which is laying an orange. In the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the painting is underneath a little fixture, which is located at the very end of the room. One the left of the fixture in the inside is a little mirror. The picture is reflected and more life is given the picture. The impression is given, that the women is one time on one side and the next time on the other. In general the picture is painted in dark colors. The atmosphere of the picture isn’t friendly. Also the dark colors and the facial expressions, especially of the men in the picture don’t excite to cheering. This is also reinforced through the way Isabella Stewart Gardner set it up. The title, which means cheering, is therefore ironic in a way.

The painting El Jaleo is very fascinating. Every time you look at it you find something knew, you didn’t see before. It has something mysterious in it, as it is not painted in the way you would imagine people cheering and dancing. It seems to carry a secret. You should really try to find out yourself!