"Figure in Doorway"

28" x 14" oil on canvas

     This is an interesting example of my father’s love of and dialogue with art history. I only caught the connection recently, but I’m quite certain the work was inspired by Ruben’s “The Temple of Janus.” He has given it a very different spin of course -gone is the Roman reference - but clearly the painting bears the imprint of the Ruben’s work compositionally, with the central figure emerging dramatically thru the doorway of a domed building.
     I think the overall mood of this work has a lot in common with works in my father’s Asylum series, as it certainly has a madhouse element to it, but the rich color and the decorative floral elements to me are clearly Redon-inspired.