Pan is Dead (Still Life) 1911

George Washington Lambert created this still life, called "Pan is Dead," with oil on canvas. Imagine him in his studio, brush in hand, coaxing the light and shadow to reveal form. It's a tightly cropped composition with the plaster bust, the flowers, the glass, all pushed forward. I like to think about the artist's attitude, what it felt like to be him. It is a painting about art! The artist is having a dialogue with the past – the sculpture of Pan! Then there are the white roses, almost sickly sweet, maybe a touch of sarcasm? And the slightly grubby gloves? The painting has this funny mix of grandeur and decay, elegance and the everyday, just casually tossed together. Painters are always responding to other painters, riffing on each other’s ideas, and pushing the conversation forward. We all know that feeling of uncertainty. Of, 'is this working? Or is it a complete disaster?' But that's where the magic happens, right? In that messy, in-between space where anything is possible.