Figurehead: "Hercules" 1935 - 1942

John Kelleher's "Figurehead: Hercules" is painted in muted browns and blues, and it captures this figure in quiet contemplation. You can almost feel the artist circling the canvas, adding layer upon layer, trying to capture the essence of Hercules. I wonder what Kelleher was thinking as he painted this? Was he thinking of the Hercules of myth, or was he thinking of something else entirely? The paint looks thin, almost watery, like he's staining the canvas. Notice the blue at the base – a little flourish of unexpected color. That little bit of blue makes the whole thing sing, doesn't it? It reminds me of Guston, how he could make the simplest mark carry so much weight. It feels like Kelleher, and all of us painters, are having one big conversation across time, inspiring each other, riffing off each other's ideas. It’s this ongoing exchange of ideas, where meaning is never fixed, but always open to interpretation.