Three Graces 1978

Frank Mason’s oil on canvas, Three Graces, is painted in the academic style. The artist’s layering of oils creates a soft, almost dreamlike quality, obscuring the figures’ forms and faces. With its subdued palette and diffused light, Three Graces has a timeless, almost ghostly presence. However, the time-intensive application of oils is also of note here. The grinding and mixing of pigments, the layering of glazes, and the construction of the canvas, are all labors that would have been invisibilized in academic training, creating a perceived timelessness to its appeal. Mason was committed to classical techniques. In this way, he aligned himself against what he would have viewed as the disposable aesthetics of late capitalism. For Mason, the slow work of painting became a rejection of modern values. Paying attention to materials, making, and context allows us to grasp the full meaning of the artwork, and challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.