'Blind Girl at a Holy Well...' by Frederic W. Burton and Iconic Realism

Below is an excerpt from a paper I was beginning to present at a New England Regional Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies. Unfortunately, I came down with the Noro virus and had to leave the conference suddenly and drive across the entire state of Connecticut… sick as a dog. Ugh! What a memory… Anyway, enjoy this excerpt that I never was able to present. 

Blind Girl at a Holy Well - a Scene in the West of Ireland

Painting by Frederick William Burton

In Frederic William Burton's painting, Blind Girl at a Holy Well - a Scene in the West of Ireland, we could broaden our interpretation to consider who Burton was representing through this young, blind girl. Notice that the younger girl serves as her ‘eyes.’  Through the establishment of the iconic figure of a blind girl within the consciousness of the community, Burton places this icon in a new reality that the community does not usually accept as the normal setting for this iconic figure, gathering water at a well. This placement allows the artist to make a statement that brings awareness to the community’s consciousness of an aspect within its culture that may need some attention. 

In the case of this Burton painting, the commonplace figures become associations of that communal aspect to which many members can relate on a personal level: hope, industriousness and innocence, all of which he creates in the necessary function of gathering water. In this case, the audience ‘sees’ the necessity for others to assist those, who are blinded, in the human act of quenching thirst, be that a physical, emotional, or political thirst.