Lamplight Sonata

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on May 14, 2017 at 6:15pm

Thank you for responding, and revealing the photographic source reflects a child's physical, if not emotional, position.  It adds a very interesting perspective to the piece. 

Comment by Jeffrey R Hogan on May 3, 2017 at 12:58pm

Thanks so much for your comments. This piece took me quite a long time to complete, I’m never able to devote enough time to my artwork. I did have a partial photograph, taken with a very cheap camera in 1972, as my only reference for this piece. I was about 10 years old when I took that photo and, as a result, the  angle of view is looking slightly up at the figure even though she is sitting down. This was the natural eye level from my height at the time. The subject was my mother at about 30 years old. I do use photos as reference, but I rarely ever let them dictate the actual composition, colors, light sources, etc. They are more inspiration for ideas of what the image could be.

Comment by Resident Curator on May 2, 2017 at 1:00pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

Lamplight Sonata is an intensely still piece; the subject shows concentrated focus within the soft light.  I enjoy the smooth, slightly stylized realism that’s evident in many of your other paintings.  But this particular piece engages in a more intimate way, as the viewer in invited into a close interior space with the subject unaware of our presence. For me it has a much different feeling than the straight on portraits that appear more directly derived from a photographic source.  Compositionally, I also enjoy the way in which the objects are arranged and the space is orchestrated to draw more interest towards the focal point.  The lamp and piano predictably tilt in towards the figure, but the drapery behind her is also curved in towards her body, interrupting and visually moving the viewer into the folds of her clothing.  The pale values of the figure start to coalesce into the light and shadow cast by the lamplight, merging in her into her musical experience.