There is something special about twilight; the transitional period between day and night can also be a metaphor for the transition between consciousness and sleep, past and present, the remembered and forgotten.

Like the state between waking and sleep, twilight can also be a period in which two different states coexist, the fading but still rich colors of the day and the glow of nighttime lights mingle in a way that evokes stillness and contemplation.

Florida based painter Matthew Cornell uses all of these elements to effect in his series of paintings that are part of a new solo show at Arcadia Contemporary in New York, titled “Pilgrimage”.

His often small scale paintings of suburban homes, streets, driveways and garages, made almost mystical by their twilight settings, are laden with meaning, as Cornell revisits in particular places of significance in his life after the recent death of his parents.

He also visits the childhood homes of his parents, wrapping all in the half remembered/half present sensation of muted light.

“Pilgrimage” will be on display at Arcadia Contemporary from March 19 to April 22, 2915.

Gari Melchers was an American artist, born in Detroit, who studied in Germany and France in the late 19th century, and settled for a time in Holland. He eventually returned to the US, lived and worked in New York for several years, and eventually retired to Virginia.

His estate in Virginia, Belmont, is now a Gari Melchers house and studio museum, housing an extensive collection of his work; though the official website lacks a gallery of images.

Melchers combined naturalism with the painterly influence of the French Impressionists. His subjects were often domestic scenes, particulalry his wife and child, as well as scenes of devotion — sometimes combined, with hinted halos in portraits.

He became well known and in demand in Europe, though less so in the US. He is much less well known these days than his contemporaries like Sargent, William Merritt Chase and others among the American Impressionists who shared some of the same esthetic influences.