Puzzlers

This new work by the renowned artist tells of a young painter's anguish when he is ordered to create false, flattering likenesses by several members of the king's court. Adrian dallies at this task but paints brilliant, inspired portraits of the king's lovely daughter, and his honesty and talent are recognized and rewarded. His tale--related by an elderly mentor--serves more as a vehicle for espousing the importance of artistic integrity than as a story with dramatic interest: the telling is studied and unabashedly deliberate, the characters embodiments of ideas rather than fully realized figures. But Locker's oils go a long way toward redeeming the narrative's flatness. Rich, dark interiors capture the intensity of the artist's world, while the landscapes, at once majestic and melancholic, reveal that Locker shares Adrian's passion for rendering ``the sparkle of the changing light and the feeling of the wind in the trees.'' All ages. (Sept.)