Chloe Enjoying The Park
oil on linen, 36” X 48”
a fanciful scene on the grounds of the wonderful
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia.
The painting featured above is one of my most recent oils, Chloe Enjoying the
Park, a fictional view of the very real place at The Virginia Museum of Fine
Arts in Richmond. There are some fascinating aspects about the place which I
discovered and will comment on below.
I was always attracted to the pretty scene on the park grounds found in the
back of the museum, of the well groomed areas with people enjoying the
benches and lawn. The many sculptures, great old trees, and the fountain pond
with red Chihuly glass and natural green reeds are all attractive, and it's a very
nice place to visit. I planned to make a painting of it from my photo reference
and sketches, but made several more trips there before moving ahead with my
project. As I prepared the study, it dawned on me that I could add an element
of a statue that would give Chloe a scaled size 'hand' placed near the pathway
and in a position to be able to flick or thump passersby. I thought that was a
little funny, Magritte-like, playful, while preserving the beauty of the park and
the amazing statue of Chloe.
When I had this painting fairly well completed, I showed a photo of it to a
friend and he immediately looked at the hand and associated it with the new
neo-Nazi salute, where a hand is extended with the index finger and the
thumb touching at their tips, sort of like an “OK” sign. OMG! At least my
'hand' has the index finger behind the thumb in a primed flicking position, but
It still might carry that negative salute connotation for some observant people.
Hearing my friend’s reaction got me thinking more about this scene. After all,
it is located at a great art museum in a historic southern city, near the famous
boulevard where controversy erupted over the removal of Confederate figure’s
statues that had long dominated the area. Now the boulevard in front of the
museum is renamed after a successful black man, a breakout pioneer in the
mostly white sport of tennis, and a famous civil rights figure —Mr. Arthur
Ashe. Quite a turnabout!
But at such a beautiful park, at a fantastic museum with a new address, in the
rear of the museum building can be found a very large statue of a woman’s
head, a 24 foot tall white statue, of a caucasian woman at that, at least she looks
to be white in most people's estimation, in more ways than one.
Unveiled in 2016, “Chloe” has slept peacefully in this idyllic garden setting for
years until the uproar after Charlottesville and the deaths of black people
around the country at the hands of bad cops and vigilantes brought protests
and controversy even to Richmond and to the nearby monuments. Somewhat
prescient, the artist/sculptor Jaume Plensa had presented his head of Chloe
with her eyes closed (as some of his other sculptures appear, or with eyes
covered). So she was placed nearby where all that recent commotion has been
over and about the amazing changes and the many feelings on all sides that
remain present about race, the Civil War, the history of slavery, neglected facts
of black people’s contributions, the ongoing struggle for equality and fairness,
dignity, and grace. Through all this,…Chloe has remained asleep, or perhaps,
since the head isn’t supine—maybe she was just not looking, closing her eyes
intentionally, and staying blissfully ignorant while so close to the scene of
change. Chloe is a more powerful work of art when seen this way, as one who
is behind the scenes, so to speak, but sees nothing as her eyes are shut and yet
she serenely dominates the park. Plensa's intention?
Chloe has a further role she plays now, as a curious personality like many un-
conscious privileged whites who might understand themselves in this mirror.
Who connects these things? Maybe the artist and museum patrons will enjoy
my addition of the hand, and my commentary on the park, and the museum’s
position in these historic moments. Getting a flick, a metaphorical thump to the
head to wake up, as well for citizens to open our eyes and see what’s really
going on with us and around us, well, I imagine many will then find this paint-
ing and its somewhat secret meaning of interest, and come to view Plensa's
statue of Chloe differently. --Jack Anglin February 2025
This Painting is for sale!
A Richmond gallery represents the artist and handles the painting,
--but for now, please contact the artist directly.
A new work by Jack Anglin
All images herein are the protected intellectual property of John H. Anglin
Copyright © 2023 John H. Anglin, All Rights Reserved 702 708-2764 zeefineartist@gmail.com
This Painting is for sale!
A local gallery represents the artist and handles the painting,
--but for now, please contact the artist directly.
Chloe Enjoying The Park
oil on linen, 36” X 48”
a fanciful scene on the grounds of the wonderful
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia.
All images herein are the protected intellectual property of John H. Anglin
Copyright © 2023, John H. Anglin, All Rights Reserved 702 708-2764 zeefineartist@gmail.com
The painting featured above is one of my most recent oils,
Chloe Enjoying the Park, a fictional view of the very real place
at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. There are
some fascinating aspects about the place which I discovered
and will comment on below.
I was always attracted to the pretty scene on the park
grounds found in the back of the museum, of the well
groomed areas with people enjoying the benches and lawn.
The many sculptures, great old trees, and the fountain pond
with red Chihuly glass and natural green reeds are all
attractive, and it's a very nice place to visit. I decided to
make a painting of it from my photo reference and sketches,
but made several more trips there before moving ahead with
my project. As I prepared the study, it dawned on me that I
could add an element of a statue that would give Chloe a
scaled size 'hand' placed near the pathway and in a position
to be able to flick or thump passersby. I thought that was a
little funny, Magritte-like, playful, while preserving the
beauty of the park and the amazing statue of Chloe.
When I had this painting fairly well completed, I showed a
photo of it to a friend and he immediately looked at the
hand and associated it with the new neo-Nazi salute, where
a hand is extended with the index finger and the thumb
touching at their tips, sort of like an “OK” sign. OMG! At
least my 'hand' has the index finger behind the thumb in a
primed flicking position, but It still might carry that negative
salute connotation for some observant people.
Hearing my friend’s reaction got me thinking more about
this scene. After all, it is located at a great art museum in a
historic southern city, near the famous boulevard where
controversy erupted over the removal of Confederate
figure’s statues that had long dominated the area. Now the
boulevard in front of the museum is renamed after a
successful black man, a breakout pioneer in the mostly white
sport of tennis, and a famous civil rights figure —Mr. Arthur
Ashe. Quite a turnabout!
But at such a beautiful park, at a fantastic museum with a
new address, in the rear of the museum building can be
found a very large statue of a woman’s head, a 24 foot tall
white statue, of a caucasian woman at that, at least she looks
to be white in most people's estimation, in more ways than
one.
Unveiled in 2016, “Chloe” has slept peacefully in this idyllic
garden setting for years until the uproar after Charlottesville
and the deaths of black people around the country at the
hands of bad cops and vigilantes brought protests and
controversy even to Richmond and to the nearby
monuments. Somewhat prescient, the artist/sculptor Jaume
Plensa had presented his head of Chloe with her eyes closed
(as some of his other sculptures appear, or with eyes
covered). So she was placed nearby where all that recent
commotion has been about the amazing changes and the
many feelings on all sides that remain present about race,
the Civil War, the history of slavery, neglected facts of black
people’s contributions, the ongoing struggle for equality and
fairness, dignity, and grace. Through all this,…Chloe has
remained asleep, or perhaps, since the head isn’t
supine—maybe she was just not looking, closing her eyes
intentionally, and staying blissfully ignorant while so close
to the scene of change. Chloe is a more powerful work of art
when seen this way, as one who is behind the scenes, so to
speak, but sees nothing as her eyes are shut and yet she
serenely dominates the park. Plensa's intention?
Chloe has a further role she plays now, as a curious
personality like many unconscious privileged whites who
might understand themselves in this mirror. Who connects
these things? Maybe the artist and museum patrons will
enjoy my addition of the hand, and my commentary on the
park, and the museum’s position in these historic moments.
Getting a flick, a metaphorical thump to the head to wake
up, as well for citizens to open our eyes and see what’s really
going on with us and around us, well, I imagine many will
then find this painting and its somewhat secret meaning of
interest, and come to view Plensa's statue of Chloe
differently. --Jack Anglin February 2025
A new work by Jack Anglin