M. Alban - Las Ruinas by James Edward Scherbarth

Las Ruinas. A pale heap in the dark, and that may be enough.

M. Alban – Las Ruinas is a painting by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), with the dates 2011 and 2013, signed and dated on the back. It is oil and cold wax medium on cradle board. Ruins have long drawn painters, since they let an artist think about time and loss without needing a figure in the scene. A wide black field fills the top, scored with fine scratches. A small pale mass sits at its lower edge, above a band of rust and brown. Eighteen inches high and 12 wide.

Ruins seldom need much explanation.