Tender 1993

Bo Bartlett made "Tender," and right away, what grabs me is the moodiness, the light feels like dusk, or maybe dawn, a quiet time for work. The paint is smooth, almost like a glaze, and everything's rendered with a real clarity. Look at the way Bartlett paints the smoke rising from the fire, how it softens the edges of everything it touches. And that red shirt against his dark skin – it's a jolt of energy in an otherwise mellow scene. It’s this combination that really gets to me, it's like the artist is inviting us to slow down and see what’s in front of us. This reminds me of some of the work of Alex Katz in its plainness. These painters use the real world but there is something manufactured, something otherworldly about the image. Ultimately, this is a very tender image with real presence. It's art that isn't trying to hide anything, and maybe that's the bravest thing of all.