Silent Music

In this painting Luc Tuymans depicts a room with a bed, a table, a chair and two cupboards. The artist once described this representation as a universal child's room that has been turned into a prison cell. The room full of furniture has a feeling of emptiness; the bed is not made, the chair is empty and the cupboards are closed. The interior is painted in pastel hues and is illuminated by an unknown light source. Tuymans used colours that could be initially conceived of as cosy, but with minor alterations he transformed the mood into one of abandonment and melancholy, which creates an atmosphere of absence.