Brian Dunlop has carefully painted a scene from his studio, with both people and objects frozen as if in a still life. A bright yellow light streams in through the window and warms the room, seeming to herald the end of this self-induced silence.
The characteristically clear light of Dunlop’s paintings — one of the most impressive aspects of the artist’s technique — is particularly notable in the meticulously composed interior, Room with a visitor. The glow of warm sunlight creates a subtle aura around the figures and objects. A curtain hangs on an unmoving breeze and figures sit suspended in time. The implied communication between the two women across a vast space unifies the composition and creates a sense of mystery.
The repeated use of an even number emphasises the prevailing binary structure and symmetry of the composition, dominated by two figures on opposite sides of an exceptionally wide picture. The symmetry is most precise in the arrangement of the two-part folding screen in the centre of the painting, and an abstract composition has been produced by locating the central fold of the blank screen on the join between the two main canvases comprising the work.
Referring to the painting’s quiet stillness, Dunlop said in 1990: “I wish I had called this painting ‘Room with a messenger’ because it could be an Annunciation…” Queensland Art Gallery writing on ‘Room with a visitor’.