Via Dei Malcontenti 2006

Bo Bartlett made this atmospheric oil painting, Via Dei Malcontenti, sometime in the recent past. Look closely and you'll see how the muted palette and careful mark-making create a palpable sense of quiet observation. There's something about the way Bartlett handles the paint, thin and washy in places, thicker and more deliberate in others, that really gets to me. It’s in the folds of the man’s coat, that rich brown, almost sepia tone, and the way it contrasts with the soft, pale skin of the child. See how that big dark umbrella both shelters and obscures? The details are soft, but the feeling is strong; you can almost smell the rain and feel the cool air. It reminds me of the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershøi, that same hushed quality, a feeling of being caught between worlds. With Bartlett, though, there’s also a thread of something more contemporary, a sense of narrative that invites you to wonder what will happen next.