Backstage 1959

Archibald Motley made this oil painting, "Backstage," at some point in his career. Motley works with a fascinating, almost chalky, palette, and the way he builds up the paint feels really considered, layer by layer. You can tell he’s enjoying the materiality of oil paint. Look how he’s rendered the curve of the seated figure’s arm, how the tonal range is compressed, like the picture plane, and the arm becomes almost flat, like a cartoon. The colors, too, are muted, but there's a kind of electric charge. He’s not shying away from the tension of the scene. Take a look at the cat in the bottom corner and the figure in the background. It's a bit like Phillip Guston's paintings, where everything feels awkward and intentional at the same time. Like Guston, Motley isn’t afraid to let the image be unresolved, leaving us to wonder what’s really going on.