His work has an atmosphere of melancholy beauty which recalls the tradition of northern romanticism. Using a layering technique which originated with Flemish painting, Barthold builds portrait studies of stunning visual and psychological acuity. Barthold manages to avoid the pitfalls of classical technique by scaling up his portraits, cropping them radically, or placing them against a blank white ground. The crisp execution unencumbered by pictorial baggage places these paintings unmistakably in the present. Barthold’s human subjects have edges; they are people who seem to be living complicated lives. Stare into any of his portraits and the facial expressions will seem to unfold and deepen; the faint smile at the corner of a woman’s mouth becomes rueful; the eyes of an older man seen in profile seem to carry both reverie and regret. For more details, please contact Turid Meeker at