Tarmen 1985

Bo Bartlett made this striking painting called ‘Tarmen’ with oil on canvas. I’m thinking about the artist at his easel, brush in hand, maybe even a rag to wipe away mistakes. Imagine how he built up the composition, layer by layer, like the strata of the earth itself. I bet he was trying to balance the formal qualities of painting with the drama of the subject matter. You know? The figures are strong, muscular, they occupy a shallow space, and the painting uses muted tones, a touch of blue in the distance to indicate the sky. The artist is in conversation with social realism here, with the American Regionalist painters, and with his own predecessors. Painting is like an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. It’s embodied expression, and there's always ambiguity, never fixed.