A Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free
A painting is a floating vessel, a bowl of water reflecting another world, an oil lamp from which, when rubbed, a picture of paradise emerges. A small cloud of gnats, the most evanescent of creatures, hang suspended in the warm evening light. One can almost touch the silence.
The title is from an 1802 poem by William Wordsworth, about how his young daughter does not notice the world’s beauty because she is a child, and therefore still at one with nature. A landscape, like a half-memory, reminds us of childhood’s unquestioned belonging. Our hearts are filled with aching joy.