Drawing Room 1943

Balthus made Drawing Room with oil on canvas, its surface alive with subtle colour shifts and textural effects. The painting is all about process; you can see the artist building up the image in layers, adjusting the tones and forms to create the overall composition. It’s almost like a dance – each brushstroke responding to the one before. Look at the way the light falls across the draped cloth, and you will see the artist’s constant adjustments and shifts in tone. Balthus is wrestling with the fabric, trying to make it sit just right. The overall feeling in this painting is mysterious, like something is about to happen. It reminds me of other artists who explore a similar kind of psychological space, like Edward Hopper or even some of the surrealists. In the end, it's the questions that make art so compelling.