The title of Adah Rose Gallery’s “A Charm Invests a Face” is from an Emily Dickinson poem that refers to a visage “imperfectly beheld.” That phrase doesn’t apply to Judith Peck’s oils, whose style is derived from classical Dutch painting. The haunting renderings of women against dark backgrounds are impeccably made, although they portray themes and moods more than individuals. The subject of “Indifference” wears a blindfold, while in “Facing Darkness” she has her back to the viewer — two strategies for deflecting the world, or others’ gazes.
Judith Peck reviewed in The Washington Post →
“Facing Darkness” by Judith Peck, part of the exhibit “A Charm Invests a Face.” (Adah Rose Gallery)