In Chapter 2 of The Mirror, Neal receives a call from Chantal in Paris about a painting he and Klaus Mansfeld stole three years ago. That painting is Violin and Candlestick by Georges Braque. The work, painted in 1910, is considered to be one of Braque's masterpieces and a definitive example of Analytic Cubism. Some of the objects are recognizable, but the composition is fractured into facets with different planes and perspectives. This creates a sense of movement to the piece. Braque, a musician as well as an artist, often incorporated music instruments such as the violin, mandola, piano, and guitar into his paintings. He once remarked, "The distinctive feature of the musical instrument as an object is that it comes alive to the touch." It's speculated that by including music instruments in his works he aimed to inject that same animation into his paintings.
Neal, who is a musician as well as an artist, feels an affinity to Braque. In canon, Neal sang and played the guitar. In Caffrey Conversation, Penna took those seeds and developed them to place a greater emphasis on Neal's musical abilities. I chose Violin and Candlestick to reflect both the artistic and musical sides to Neal's character. Cubist paintings also remind me of puzzles, and anyone who's watched White Collar knows how much Neal and Peter enjoy puzzles.
The Mirror on Archive of Our Own The Mirror on FanFiction
No comments:
Post a Comment