Enzie, I like your interpretation very much. I was definitely thinking about inner and outer worlds, about extraversion and introversion, and how they correspond to different periods in life as well as different personality orientations. Your observation that he is not really looking at the view but reflecting on something within is exactly what I wanted to show so I am glad I got it across.

My brother does really like the painting. He calls it "metaphysical." I did tell him what I was thinking of, and he helped me put it together by posing and getting photo references, etc. Although I tried to explain my ideas, I'm not sure I totally got it across to him, but that's usually the way when you have an idea in your mind and your attempts to communicate it are not that great because it can't really be described except in the form of the painting itself

SB, thank you again for the other links. The first one uncannily echoes the "metaphysical" theme. What is inside and what is outside are all part of the same thing. The microcosm and macrocosm are structurally the same. The inner world is really so much greater than us and yet it can be contained in our mind. The second link is also relevant. We have many losses and separations as we grow older, and more chance to reflect on them. The interesting thing is that he is actually on an island, looking at the mainland.

Thanks Alex! I love to hear what the ideas of the artist are when they are developing a painting.

Alexandra -
The painting is absolutely gorgeous, but I had quite a different initial interpretation of it before I read that it was a double portrait.

Seeing the similarity in the two, I first assumed it was a father/son portrait. Thinking perhaps the father is guarded (in an iron cage) and does not let anyone get close to him, including the son who is pressed against the glass and longing to get in. The father pays no attention to his gesturing as he is deep in thought about other things. They spend a lot of time together, but are not close.

Ok, I know this is WAY off - but it's interesting how different people can read such different meaning into the same painting. Interpretation is an interesting topic.

Now that I know they are of the same person, of course that changes my entire view of the painting.

Wow, Heidi, that it NOT way off at all! I am so blown away by this. In a way, it is about a father and son. One of my initial thoughts for the painting was to show the effect of our family circumstances on my brother. (I won't go into that here, but you could read about our family on the internet in relation to my brother's film, My Architect.) My brother and I experienced similar situations as children growing up in our family and so this painting is partially about me, too--as all art is about the artist. I was trying to show the feeling of being left on the outside, "wanting in" to your family, as a young person. Then, when you are older, realizing that you are in, just by the strength of your own achievements and the validation of yourself. No one can prevent you from being who you are and accepting your rightful place in the world, whatever that may be. The young man is looking in on his older self--but in a way, he has become the father.

Thanks for that insight, Heidi.

Alex,
I

[QUOTE=Carlos Ygoa]Alex,
and the lighthouse...it

Alex, I am also very late in commenting. Normally I try to post straight away, but when, like in this case, I miss out on that, it is difficult to add anything as all the posts are so well articulated.
I have the utmost admiration for tackling all the members of your family in portraits as you did. We have seen your father, your mother, your husband and children, and now your brother. With each of them things seem to get deeper and deeper.

In fact I am late in adding this post because I somehow sense that this works are there because you just NEED to do them, almost regardless of the result, and though you generously share your process with us, in fact I find them so personal and honest that I do not dare to judge them.
As you said, you have an idea which you can only convey in painting and you explore it until very deep down. Though the scene is set in an open space one has the feeling that actually we are somewhere within, in another dimension, an internal one, where the space turns into an illusion as soon as we learn that the time is an illusion too.
I love this painting, I find it so intense that at this point if you went on and painted over the younger figure the strenght of its former presence could still be felt.
Ilaria

Alex,
I was very impressed when I first saw this painting in your studio. First, the composition and the color harmony struck me. Then all the layers of symbolism, I wouldn't try to find the exact interpretation, but all those deep themes are present : inside/outside, reflection, the ages of life... etc...
I think this painting have some precise meanings for you and your brother, and for the viewers like us, we can feel and guess. The richness of the possible interpretation is evident, and it's great also to feel it, and not to explain everything with words ( sometimes it will lose something if it's explained with too much rationalism...)

Dear Alex,

This really a spectacular painting, on every level. I really respect your delight in tackling such complexity!

Thank you Carlos, Mary Ann (again), Ilaria and Marina!

Carlos, I'm happy to tell you--you can take the foot out of your mouth. You are right on with the age. It IS neat to have a lighthouse. I enjoy it vicariously.

But, Mary Ann, thank you for pointing out those symbolic meanings of the lighthouse. They are all relevant, I think.


Carlos, Marina and Ilaria--you expressed a certain hesitancy about going on too long with--or delving too deeply into--various interpretations, partly because other people have already come up with a lot, and because as you all said it's not really necessary to know what the artist intended, exactly. Some meanings are personal, but my hope is that the general ideas will be communicated anyway, and that the painting will say something to someone even if they know nothing of the person in this portrait. I think all artists want this to happen when people see their work.

I agree that it is sometimes even detrimental to try to put everything into words. I often try, but at the same time I enjoy the mystery of a painting that cannot be described verbally. If I can impart a little of that mystery I'm happy!

Ilaria, I actually did consider whether I should leave the earlier figure of my brother in the painting! At the time I was painting this I was reading about how Andrew Wyeth would start with an idea involving a person, object or event, and after many studies, would end up eliminating that original element from the final work even though the painting was still about that person or thing or event. I thought seriously about whether the younger figure was necessary. But in the end I decided to keep it because it truly added something. Of course not everyone would agree, but that's what I felt at the time.

Anyway, thank you all for your thoughtful comments. I deeply appreciate them, especially coming from people whose work I admire tremendously.