puppeteers

A woman in a loose white top and a man with curly blond hair, both seen from the chest up, bend together over a wooden marionette control bar, their fingers adjusting its crossed strings. Below them a fully articulated wooden puppet hangs with both arms lifted, its blank oval head tilted back as if answering their handling.

The canvas is built from deep black shadow relieved only by the pale flesh tones of the two heads and hands, the woman's white sleeve, and the honey-colored wood of the puppet and control bar. Loose, gestural brushwork and the vertical drop of taut strings create a quiet, intent, faintly theatrical mood.