Walter Nelson 1932

Editor: This is a small oil painting, "Walter Nelson," by Denman Waldo Ross. I'm struck by the raw, almost unfinished quality. It feels very intimate. What stands out to you when you look at this piece? Curator: It feels like a whisper of a memory, doesn't it? The way the light catches the cheek and brow, the eyes seeming to look inward... Ross, I think, was chasing something beyond mere representation. Did he see in Walter a reflection of his own artistic soul? Editor: I never thought of it that way. So, it's not just a portrait, but almost a self-reflection of the artist himself? Curator: Precisely. It’s a painter staring into the soul of the subject, and perhaps finding himself staring back. We are all, in a way, Walter Nelson. Editor: That’s a beautiful perspective. I’ll definitely look at portraits differently now.