Artist
Beatrice Mellinger
Title
Blue Moon
Date2008
MediumAcrylic on board
Dimensions48 × 24 in. (121.9 × 61 cm)
Framed Size: 49 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (125.7 × 64.8 cm)
Framed Size: 49 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (125.7 × 64.8 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2017.050
ClassificationsPaintings
Locations
Office of Employee Appeals (955 L'Enfant Plaza SW, 2500)
DescriptionIn “Blue Moon”, a very jazzy painting, Beatrice Mellinger used geometrically consistent straight edges and rich solid colors. She complemented the composition adding layers of free flow shapes. She painted directly on board using paint rollers to render the special full moon night luminosity and atmosphere. The artwork contains this special rhythm and reverberation of colors evocative of jazz compositions.
The painting has a “Green Moon” sister which was rendered in warmer tones reflecting a different variation of full moon night colors, when “the moon had turned to gold”.
The title refers directly to the “Blue Moon” song written in 1933 by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart which had been interpreted by legendary jazz singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, both iconic stars of the Washington DC jazz scene.
"Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue Moon
You knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Somebody I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me,
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard someone whisper, “Please adore me”
And when I looked,
The moon had turned to gold.
Blue Moon,
Now I’m no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own."
