War of the Worlds 1963

Frank Mason made this painting, "War of the Worlds," with what looks like oils, and lots of earth tones, umber and browns mostly. When I look at this I imagine Frank in his studio, pushing paint around, wiping it off, maybe a bit frustrated, but definitely in conversation with the canvas. It’s moody, right? Like a storm brewing, or maybe a memory trying to surface. You can see these figures emerging from the darkness. The paint looks quite thin, scrubbed in layers to create a sense of depth and atmosphere, but there are impasto accents too. Like little eruptions of light. I wonder if Frank was thinking about the old masters when he made this. There’s something about the way the light hits those forms that reminds me of Caravaggio. Painting is such an embodied thing. It’s not just about what you see, but how you feel, how you move. And in the end, all artists are in conversation, riffing off each other, trying to make sense of the world in their own way. It's not about being right, it's about keeping the conversation going.