Faggot Bearer 1994

Bo Bartlett, born in 1955, made this painting of a man carrying firewood—or “Faggot Bearer,” as he titled it—with oil on canvas. It looks like a painting that evolved through many stages, maybe beginning with a preparatory drawing, then moving through layers of warm, earthy tones. It’s fascinating how the weight of the wood seems to bear down on the figure, making him lean, but he does so with a quiet dignity. I wonder what Bartlett was thinking about when he painted this—perhaps about the everyday labors that sustain us, or the burdens we carry, both physical and emotional. Maybe it was about the kindling, the raw material of creativity and warmth. The painting feels like a nod to earlier traditions of figurative painting, yet it has a contemporary sensitivity. Painting is just like that; we respond, we steal, we borrow, and in the process, we discover something new and meaningful.