Daughter and Mother 1997

John Currin's painting "Daughter and Mother" presents us with a scene where something is subtly off-kilter in the most fascinating way. The faces are painted in such a way that you're never quite sure if you're looking at an idealized portrait or something more… subversive. Is Currin poking fun at classical portraiture, or is he genuinely trying to capture something beautiful? Probably a bit of both. I can almost imagine him wrestling with the canvas, trying to find that sweet spot between reverence and irony. The slightly sickly green background adds to the tension. It's like he's saying, "Here's beauty, but don't get too comfortable." Currin's really in conversation with painters of the past, like Cranach and others, but he’s also got a foot in contemporary culture. It’s a reminder that all artists are magpies, stealing and transforming ideas across time.