Candlelight Rendezvous 

Curator: Approaching this intriguing piece, what sensations bubble up for you? To me, it's almost dreamlike. Editor: Oh, the drama of the candlelight! Instantly I feel pulled into a clandestine moment. Who are these people, bathed in such evocative light? Curator: Well, we know this captivating composition is an oil painting titled "Candlelight Rendezvous", made by Haddon Hubbard Sundblom. It's evocative in so many ways. One question is, what stories do we weave around it, based on what Sundblom delivers us in oil paint? Editor: The narrative feels open. The serviceman gives the scene a time and a place...a world at war maybe? And both the women…the composition keeps my eye moving, from the red scarf of the blonde, up to the stern gaze of the man in uniform. But, mostly, it makes me wonder who paid for the oil paint in that moment. I bet that man in uniform wasn't spending freely. Curator: Good observation! It’s all tied into the romantic era, of course, focusing on the intimacy between the figures rather than the external forces that may have pressed them into the same space and setting, under wartime strictures of scarcity, etc. Editor: Exactly! The painting feels so incredibly private...a snatched moment outside of normal existence. The quick brushstrokes also underscore the idea of a momentary, perhaps secretive…what? A shared glance over a fragile gift, perhaps? That is almost more important than just depicting that which is forbidden: it’s a question of whether a painting can act as a reminder, not as a window on one's sins… Curator: Indeed! So much focus on human interaction and that golden light that is at once illuminating and obscures any telling detail about them…But back to material considerations: It's interesting to imagine the socio-economics of creating these paintings. From the canvas itself to the pigments, and who, back then, decided the relative value of genre versus…oh, say, abstraction? All made of similar stuff, or pigments extracted in some distant factory… Editor: Hmmm. The contrast between their lit faces and the deep shadows is incredible. It definitely invites a consideration about what hides within each of us… or at least what shadows those faces bear after the shared event… or confession? Curator: It is really something how a picture becomes more about the audience at that point! Editor: It surely does. It’s less about paint than about how a viewer reflects on love, and truth and perhaps the fleeting grace afforded to anyone with a little cash for rendezvous.