Barclay Sheaks, 1928-2010
Watchers, 1972
acrylic on panel

On and Off the Wall is a series of brief reflections on or about works in the collection, including those that may not often make an appearance on the gallery wall due to shortage of display space. Deborah Spanich is the museum registrar. She compiled the digital database and fell in love with many of the works in the collection.

Barclay Sheaks, who started the art department at Virginia Wesleyan College, passed away this year. One of the works in the College’s collection is a hinged diptych by Sheaks. It is a nice example of a subject he visited in several of his paintings: various depictions of “watchers,” figures who gaze either at a specified focus, or who appear to stare ambiguously out at the viewer.

In Watchers, two women direct their attention not toward each other, but at unidentified targets. The young woman on the left holds a glass to her lips and looks beyond the edge of the canvas. On the right, an older woman sits in front of a window, eyes obscured by large dark glasses.

Far from being a portrait, this painting is a study of two people sharing the same space without an obvious connection between them. Sheaks uses lighting and other elements in this work to set up a tension apart from that presented by the undefined focus of the women’s watchful attention.

The face of woman on the left looms within the borders of frame. The break between the two panels effectively bisects her resting arm from her torso at the shoulder, leaving it at the margin of the right-hand painting. This panel is the domain of the other woman, centered in the space, yet not as prominent. In contrast to the first woman who is sleeveless, she is clad in a jacket. The table is devoid of food and her hands are not shown, leaving her without purpose. This composition suggests the women are together but not dining companions.

The light that accents the younger woman’s face and the liquid in her raised glass seems to lead the viewer’s eye toward the second figure. Further, the folded napkin on the table appears to point upward to the shadowed face. However, the shadow and sunglasses make her features enigmatic. It is as though Sheaks deliberately made her expression unreadable. Adding to the tension is the fact that it is not clear where she is looking. Her gaze may follow that of the woman on the left, it may rest on the back of her turned head, or even – unnervingly – on us.