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Rose StapletonWCSI (b.1951)
Interior
Oil on canvas on board, 40 x 30cm (15.7 x 11.8”)
Signed and dated 2008
It is the narrative thread which gives such strength to Rose’s work.With her in-
teriors, especially, we are drawn into a story which fascinates and holds. For the
most part she eschews figures and yet the scenes are peopled: someone has just
left the space or is about to enter it. Each is a personal mise-en-scène presented
to the viewer in a spirit of sharing and caring; she wants us to look and respond
and to partake of her pleasure in what she sees. When I look at Rose’s interiors
I am often put in mind of the male Bower Bird, that curious Australian bird
also known as the ‘stagemaker’, who builds elaborate and beautifully decorated
nests to attract his mate.We are immediately attracted to this work for the sheer
beauty of its stained-glass effect achieved by the seductive sfumato, that blurring
of outline by subtle blending of one tone into another.The literal translation of
sfumare, of course, is to evaporate, to fade out and this, by some strange alchemy,
is what Rose achieves : she conjures up a concentrate of emotion, leaves it hover
for a moment before our sensibilities and than fades it out.
€1,000 - 1500