This painting is called "Unseen Comfort" by Lotus Wilkerson. The subject matter is unseen comfort from a lost loved one.It is a painting of a woman crying at someone's grave at night. Standing next to her is what appears to be who she is crying about, her deceased lover's ghost or spirit in a soldier uniform. You can tell the soldier is a ghost because behind him is an angel who is resting his hand on the soldier and shining a light on the grieving woman. In the background, there are other grave stones in the shapes of crosses. The moonlight is shining in the distance. This painting creates a sense of comfort because even though she does not know it, her loved one is right there with her. The flag by the soldier's foot is subtle because one does not notice it right away but suggests that the soldier was fighting for America. The colors in this painting are of the blue tone. Some areas, such as the trees, have a greater concentration of dark value and other areas, such as the angel, the soldier, the moon, and the gravestones, have a high concentration of light value. Because of the concentration of light value, the emphasis is on the soldier and the angel. The girl crying is the main focal point because her dress and hair is dark yet she is surrounded by much lighter hues.
The viewer would interpret this as a women crying over her lover, whom she lost in a war, yet he is right there looking down on her from heaven. The soldier wants to be with her but can only comfort her from a distance now. The viewer would feel sad and sorry for the girl in the painting who seems to have lost the one person she loved. She obviously misses him a lot if she is at his grave in the middle of the night, crying. This piece is very sad yet it is comforting to see that the soldier misses her too.
