Untitled (Phyllis Moore Stoll and Eugenie Stoll) 1933

Curator: This intriguing image by C. Bennette Moore captures Phyllis Moore Stoll and Eugenie Stoll in an intimate scene. The inverted tones of the photograph create an immediate ghostly aura. Editor: It’s the archetypal Madonna and Child, inverted, distorted, like a half-remembered dream—or perhaps, a barely suppressed fear. Curator: The composition is fascinating; the lamp on the table mirrors the central figures, creating a balanced yet unsettling symmetry. Consider the interplay of light and shadow. Editor: The lamp carries domestic symbolism—the hearth, comfort. Yet here, it’s made strange. And the small landscape painting in the background? Is that a safe harbor, or a voyage into the unknown? Curator: Precisely. Moore's photographic approach highlights the structural elements—the lines of the bed, the textured wallpaper—as much as the subjects themselves. Editor: It’s a powerful testament to the complex emotions surrounding motherhood—the anxieties, the dreams, the love...a fascinating exploration of the maternal archetype. Curator: A fitting conclusion. Editor: Indeed.