Don Quixote 2000

Scott Gustafson made this painting of Don Quixote sometime in the late 20th or early 21st century, I'd guess. The warmth in this piece just radiates. Golds and browns interplay, capturing the light and shadow that dance across Don Quixote's armour and the surrounding landscape. It feels like a stage set. Gustafson's brushwork is meticulous, almost like frosting a cake with oil paint. Look at the windmill sails; they’re not just shapes, they're built up from individual strokes, creating texture and depth. You can almost feel the breeze they're meant to catch! There's a touch of Norman Rockwell in Gustafson's storytelling, but with a fantastical twist. And, like Rockwell, there is an obsessive quality to the painting, as if it took months to build up this world and all its creatures. It's not trying to be anything other than what it is: a transportive moment of colour, gesture, and narrative wonder.