The Billiard 1955

Richard Lindner’s, “The Billiard” is a painting of two men playing pool and the painting is made from strong geometric shapes, the palette muted and moody. I imagine Lindner in his studio, circling around this scene in his mind, trying to figure out how to make these two figures interact on the flat surface of the canvas. The scene is so staged that the viewer is distanced from the men; they are merely figures, stoic and statuesque. The billiard cues become rigid lines of tension, and the table is a heavy block that takes up most of the frame. You can see the influence of artists like Fernand Leger in the way Lindner distills the figures down to their most essential forms, creating a feeling of isolation and alienation. Painting always invites a conversation across generations. We look at these works, and they spark something new within us. It's all a continuous exchange.