The Samaritans 2014

Bo Bartlett's painting presents an uncanny tableau of figures and objects rendered in a style reminiscent of American Realism. The palette is muted, casting the scene in a dreamlike atmosphere. The surface seems smooth, almost photographic, but it's also full of enigmatic narrative potential. I wonder what Bartlett was thinking when he put this odd bunch together. The figures, each so carefully observed, feel caught in a moment of waiting, but for what? The woman in the riding habit looks as though she’s stepped out of a different painting altogether. There’s a surreal quality to the combination of elements, like a Magritte painting, but grounded in everyday reality. I see this painting as part of a larger conversation about representation and the construction of meaning. Like other artists, Bartlett grapples with how to capture the elusive nature of experience, turning the act of painting into a quest for understanding. It’s a space where ambiguity and uncertainty become not obstacles but opportunities for new ways of seeing.