A Room of Their Own 2012

Bo Bartlett made this painting ‘A Room of Their Own’ with oil paint on canvas. The mark making here feels smooth and gentle. The tonal range is quite even, like the scene is lit through a soft filter. Look at the way Bartlett has rendered the texture of the bedding in short horizontal strokes. It’s neither hyper-realistic, nor overly gestural. It’s right in the middle, and so he has created a world of stillness, which is both intimate and voyeuristic. The cool blues, warm browns, and muted grays combine to produce a contemplative mood. This piece reminds me of Alex Katz’s portraiture, in the way that he approaches representation with a similarly muted palette and even light. Like Katz, Bartlett is interested in how we perceive images, and the ambiguity of representation. What kind of “room” is this? Is it a real space, or an imagined one? Are we looking at two sisters, or the same person reflected in a mirror?