The Phoenix 1991

Boris Vallejo created this painting, The Phoenix, with what looks like oils, and the fiery palette makes you feel the heat, right? The textures here are all about smooth gradations, especially on the figure, with subtle shifts from light to shadow and a real gleam in the skin. But then you see the way the phoenix itself seems to dissolve into the background. Look at the edges of its wings. See how the red paint is feathered? There's a real contrast between the sharp detail of the woman's body and the blurred abstraction of the fiery background. It’s like Vallejo's showing us two different ways of seeing, one that wants to define and the other that wants to let go. This is something that keeps cropping up for me too, as a painter. This reminds me of Gustav Klimt and his use of layering, a solid realism set against a dreamlike background of abstract color. What does it all mean? Does it have to *mean* anything?