© the artist. Photo credit: The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate
Some of the most important subjects depicted in painting take place in interiors. The contrast between a domestic setting and a great event can be a powerful one. Biblical and mythological stories can take place in invented interiors, symbolic ones intended to convey a message, or contemporary settings meant to underline the relevance of the story.
‘Genre’ paintings and portraits provide a wealth of information about the way of life of previous generations.
They are valuable evidence of room layouts, the furniture and decorative arts of the past and how they were used. Of course such interiors can also be decorative subjects in their own right, can carry their own hidden messages and can be rearranged to suit the artist.
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