The Rest Cure

Location

Country: Turkey
City: Ankara
Place: British Embassy

The pale colours and blurred lines of 'The Rest Cure', a painting by Ansel Krut, create an enigmatic scene which is composed in three distinct areas. At the left is a semi-recumbent figure, with a large floppy hat and pointed slippers, who leans on the pillows of a bed. To the right, another figure enters the scene, as if visiting the invalid, dressed in a red turban and an ornate blue and gold robe. Both figures are divided by an expanse of space which appears ambiguously as an open window or a blank wall. Below it, standing between both figures is a small white dog, whose upturned tail and pink tongue bring the only hint of movement to the scene. 

The dream-like atmosphere of the painting is tempered by a disconcerting air of uncertainty. Who are the figures in this work? Where is the scene set? The semi-oriental style of both figures’ dress places them in a variety of locations and times, from the early Italian Renaissance period to an 18th or 19th century Asian interior. Equally, we could be looking at a scene from a play. The ambiguity of time and place is underpinned by the lack of definition in the faces of both figures and the indefinable background, which blends both interior and exterior features. 

Krut has insisted that as onlookers, we should have minimal information about the subjects of his paintings. He prefers to keep the subject matter veiled and ambiguous, leaving us to decide on the meaning of the work for ourselves.

Places

Subjects

rest/sleep, genre, dog, woman, curtain, bed, pillow, tent interior

Materials & Techniques

board, oil, oil painting

Artist

Ansel Krut (1959 - )

Title

The Rest Cure

Date

1995

Medium

Oil on board

Dimensions

height: 30.50 cm, width: 40.80 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Jason Rhodes, March 1995

Inscription

none visible

GAC number

16910