Mallory Lake print edition on sale



Signed, limited print edition
Evening Departure
Mallory Lake

This post may be too late. An edition of 50 signed prints of a pastel by Mallory Lake entitled "Evening Departure" went on sale late in August. The print comes from a recent exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) of new works based on film noir scenes. (See my earlier post.)

Although the pastel painting has as its focus a train enveloped by billowing clouds of steam, I see the train car to the right in the composition as the true artistic focus. By that, I consider the train car as the height of technical excellence in this particular pastel. Lake's depiction of the reflectivity of the metal surfaces -- the wavering light of the engine's head lamp in the dimples of the metal siding, the car's reflection of the murky ambient light of evening in a train yard -- are spot on. All the more so, because this complex interplay of light and surfaces takes place in a tight, foreshortened space. It's a quiet drama of light and dark, and the attendant metaphors we associate with these qualities.

Here's hoping that Lake keeps exploring this "noirish" subject land. I'm hoping she will stumble across a Raymond Chandler detective novel and show us some of the precarious situations in which Chandler's anti-hero detective, Philip Marlowe, finds himself.
Prints are $245 each, and BMAC members receive a $30 discount. All proceeds support BMAC in its mission "to present art and ideas in ways that inspire, educate, and engage people of all ages." To order, call 802-257-0124, ext. 101 or visit www.brattleboromuseum.org.