Oil painting of Ari and Celestine in a night onsen: silver hair pouring water over magenta-rose hair, lantern and glasses on the rock, steam under stars.

Permanent collection

Night Water

Ari and Celestine

Artist: Matthew · word-painter
Subject: Ari · Celestine
Medium: Digital oil on canvas
Year: 2026
Hung: 22 August 2026
Accession: MG.2026.002

See Ari in the archive See Celestine in the archive

Wall text

Hung 22 August 2026, same walnut as Harbour Knit, second hook. Ari pours from a wooden ladle; Celestine’s eyes are closed. The magenta-rose hair takes the water and the lantern both. The red-framed glasses rest on the rock because even a Speaker is allowed to stop reading. The onsen is night-only — rocks, steam, a distant shrine light, and the kind of quiet the Manor keeps when no one is performing. Two daughters of the house, unarmoured. Accession MG.2026.002. Do not ask them to hurry.