Sunset and Concrete Dock: Dock

In this multimedia environment, Bartlett demonstrates her talent for juxtaposing a variety of images, styles, and perspectives. Since the 1980s, Bartlett has combined painting and sculptural elements to create jarring illusions: her paintings explore themes of houses, gardens, and seascapes, while her inclusion of sculpted boats, houses, and other objects extends the scenes into the viewer’s space. In Sunset and Concrete Dock, the painting depicts a shallow landscape of trees and a flat geometric red house at sunset. Dense with expressive brushwork, this atmospheric scene recalls both 19th-century European and American landscape painting. The painted image of a red house reappears as a volumetric object placed in front of the canvas, sparking a dialogue between concept and reality. John L. Severance Fund 1985.206.a–f