Consultation
/Colleen Browning
1985
British-American, d. 2003
Oil on canvas
Gift of the artist
Polk Museum of Art Permanent Collection 1993.30
What type of consultation are we witnessing here? Are we voyeurs on a private conversation? Or are we supposed to be in the room with these two figures? Note the subtle details Browning provides us in this deceptively simple scene. A barely-sipped cup of coffee seemingly pushed aside. A napkin hanging precariously off the edge of the table. As we shift our focus to the figures, we see that he woman at right places her hand gently over the hand of the woman at left, who rests her head on her opposite arm. Although we are able to see one woman’s face completely — so much that we can tell she has closed her eyes almost meditatively — we cannot see any part of the other’s face. What might that unseen face express, were we able to observe it? As you imagine the story underlying this painting, your individual expectation of what this unseen woman may be revealing, saying, or thinking may dictate the path of the narrative you create.