Venus of Broome Street 1990

Frank Mason’s “Venus of Broome Street” from 1990 seems to emerge from the darkness through thin washes of paint and light impasto. I’m thinking that the red ground peeks through the green backdrop, and this is how Frank built up this painting over time. I can almost see Frank in his studio, squinting at his model, trying to capture the light as it hits her skin. Did he start with the gesture, or the face? There’s a vulnerability here, a kind of rawness in the way he’s laid down those strokes. It’s like he’s searching for something, not just depicting what’s in front of him, but trying to get at something deeper. You can see the tradition of old masters like Rembrandt and Titian in the way Mason uses light and shadow to create form, but he also brings his own modern sensibility to the work. I love thinking that artists are always riffing off of each other, across centuries, in this never-ending conversation. It’s a reminder that painting is an embodied form of expression that allows for endless possibilities and meanings.