Bermuda Bound 1940

Curator: Gladys Kleinman’s watercolor drawing, “Bermuda Bound,” dating back to 1940, presents a rather intriguing composition. The work currently resides here at the Met. What’s your initial read on it? Editor: Utterly charming and a touch surreal! There's a whimsical theatricality to it, don't you think? The colors are so bright and a stylishly dressed lady seems to be striding through an otherworldly paradise. Curator: It’s interesting you say paradise, as Kleinman lived quite an isolated life. We understand her to be profoundly synesthetic, seeing colors in sounds and vice versa. This may explain the somewhat unconventional blending of figuration, landscape, and the abstract feel that wafts out from this. Editor: Ah, that explains the floating figures, doesn't it? Like echoes of leisure lifted from the land and now dancing in the air. Tennis racquets, swimming—symbols of carefree island life abstracted into almost spiritual presences. It is hard not to look at her composition without instantly making certain psychological interpretations... Curator: Precisely! The layering of elements, the palette…it’s as though the artist aimed to depict the emotional climate of a scene, and perhaps those figures were visitors or vacationers whom she witnessed during a rare sojourn into town. Or it could be merely the dreamscape where one hopes to wander someday. Editor: Note too how the woman strides with purpose holding those items close to her chest. This detail lends itself toward the lady feeling confident but perhaps even isolated in some ways. She is the central anchor as everyone else swims about. She must hold still and not leave this land and its attributes. It's an island with very fixed attributes. Curator: Yes, those symbolic elements feel significant. In many ways, it’s as if the watercolor served as a self-contained visual language of her impressions that allows us passage into her feelings and inner life. I’d venture to suggest this picture of paradise carries a deeper longing. Editor: I concur wholeheartedly. This innocent style contains entire continents of meaning! It makes you wonder: if art can unlock our vision, perhaps we, like the figures in the sky, might one day float a bit ourselves.