Another FAQ: Please explain that "V" and/or "M"

Yes, it's That Painting again. Accustomed to verbal bullets flying at feet, I commence to dance like a monkey on amphetamines and timidly put forth the possibility that maybe it's just the way the composition was set up. Negative space worked out kind of funny? Possibly? Whimper. (Guide stealthily creeps off to do non-controversial housework, about which no one complains...)