Our Favorite Thing for today is Jared French’s Evasion! 🪞 Emme Page just presented her qualifying paper today! She is an art history M.A. student in her final semester studying American art.

“Jared French’s Evasion stands out to me as a work in which the meaning is both clear and ambiguous, creating an interpretative tension parallel to his understanding of the inner self. As a bisexual man married to a woman in 1940s New York City, French explores themes of shame and ostracism through this image.

“What strikes me the most about the work is French’s use of Old Master techniques. The idealized structure of the male body and use of tempera as a medium create a contradiction between the Renaissance classical style in which he paints and the contemporary subject matter. Issues of religion and sexuality are linked in this image through his stylistic choices.

“I am always enthralled by the vibrancy of the yellow hue which makes up the wall of the interior space. This and the blue of the subject’s pajamas create a salient contrast heightened by the subject matter. I am currently writing my qualifying paper on the work and am so excited to research it further!”