Up The Staircase 1942

Tom Lovell created this painting, "Up The Staircase," during an era filled with both turmoil and high romance. I find myself thinking about the artist at his easel, maybe in a New York studio. He’s probably thinking about all those other painters who've grappled with rendering the figure, with light and shadow, and of course, desire. Look at the way Lovell captures the drama of this moment – the way he cradles her, the red lipstick and the flowers! It’s as if you can feel the tenderness of the man, and also the trepidation of the woman he holds. You know, painting is like a conversation across time. Lovell surely stood on the shoulders of artists who came before, wrestling with how to make paint breathe and communicate feeling. He was probably looking at the painters from the past, such as Watteau and Fragonard but with a mid-century modern twist. It's a reminder that we're all part of a big, messy, beautiful lineage of image-makers trying to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time.