Love in the Time of Pandemic 2020

Bo Bartlett made this painting titled 'Love in the Time of Pandemic' with what looks like a very smooth application of oil paint. The way Bartlett handles the paint here gives the buildings a kind of still, quiet presence. There’s something both solid and strange about these shapes and the way they stack up. The color palette is muted, almost bleached, and the surfaces are flat, yet they catch the light in a way that feels very real. Check out the red doors punctuating the white walls, they're like little exclamation points. You can almost feel the sun beating down, reflecting off the buildings. Looking at this, I’m reminded a little of Edward Hopper, especially in that shared sense of quiet isolation and the striking use of light and shadow. Ultimately, paintings are about more than just what they depict. It’s about how the artist sees and feels the world, and how that vision translates into something we can all connect with.