Ginger; verso: Portrait of a Seated Young Man 19th-20th century

Editor: This is "Ginger; verso: Portrait of a Seated Young Man" by Denman Waldo Ross. I'm really struck by the bright orange cloth contrasting with the cool blues in the background. What symbols or ideas do you think Ross was exploring? Curator: The orange cloth, draped so deliberately, evokes classical drapery and speaks to traditions of representing the human form. Note the stars behind the figure. What might they suggest about the sitter's aspirations or inner world? Editor: Perhaps a sense of hope or destiny? I hadn't really noticed them before! Curator: Exactly. The image becomes a landscape of the mind, rich with cultural memory.