The Painter's Triumph

The Painter's Triumph, by William Sidney Mount is a suspicious painting in that the more the viewer looks at it, the more they see, the more they understand the meaning of the painting. Also suspicious is the fact that every single canvas in this painting is turned away from the sight of a viewer. We are not supposed to know what Mount has painted that the man on the right finds so interesting as we can see from his facial expression. At first glance, it looks as though there are just two men looking at a painting. One, obviously William, is showing off his artistic skills to a man who looks as though he was randomly selected off of the streets. This farmer-looking man is astonished at what he is seeing on the canvas in front of him. We discussed that as we look closer at the farmer, we discover that he is wearing an earring, which all comes down to the knowledge that he is a christian, he is a sailor, for the time period they are in, he is very well traveled for an American, and that he has better vision than that of those who were not sailors who wore earrings. This fact alone makes him all the more qualified to be judging Mount's painting and more meaningful if he  believes that it is a good piece of art. Mount's purpose of this painting is to prove that he, albeit American, not European, is just as talented an artist and a painter as a European artist who has more traveling experience and thought to be a better artist than any American artist. William's refusal of formal education by European artists, and this painting are forms of his trying to create or portray equality between America and Europeans, especially the artists. This can also be interpreted by the artist and the seemingly wealthy sailor both standing together fawning at this art piece as though they are equals.