Art Interpretation - Blog Posts

Esther Sarto. Butchershop Bliss. 2019. Watercolour and Gouache on 300gsm hotpressed Watercolour paper.

24 x 16 inches

I’ve been thinking about this piece for weeks. I keep coming back to it trying to figure it out. I’ve seen some discussion, but no interpretation has ever really resonated with me.

There’s nothing particularly uncanny about the woman or baby, the surroundings seem normal for them. The lighting is bright, the room is cluttered but not obscured. The meat frames them in, but I’m not sure if that feels like an oppressive force.

The surroundings are visceral, but not scary in any way. Despite the raw meat, there’s no blood in the room, It seems clean.

The only conclusion I can come to is it’s about survival, food, and eating. The baby breastfeeding vs the butchers room. That comes back to the title, though, which doesn’t make much sense to me in that context.

There’s also several feminist and class conscious readings you could do of this; but I’m still not sure.

Please help me figure it out, I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this piece!!!

George and Ringos having so much love and care in their eyes over such a simple show of affection is so on brand!!

Paul and John are accurate too tho. Paul blankly looking directly at us and not John, as if hes taken out of the situation entirely, just allowing John to kiss him as if he’s doing John a favor, but he’s not stopping him either, indicating that he wants to be kissed. Meanwhile John just goes at it, more absorbed with Paul’s lips than the male himself.

I may be over analyzing and COMPLETELY wrong, but this is me as an artist interpreting this wonderful piece❤️

two kisses