The Skaters: #1?

In 2009, after having known Abby Heller-Burnham, over a long period of time and in many capacities, I began to immerse myself in her work. Two paintings distinguished themselves instantly as sublime masterpieces: The Skaters and The Lost Twins. Oddly enough, I had seen Abs begin The Skaters while she lived with Mary in West Philly in the early Aughts. Ten years later, it seems clear to me, for me: The Skaters gets the nod over The Lost Twins as Abby's #1. The simple reason is that The Skaters creates its own, self-circumscribed, self-sufficient, visionary universe, beyond moves that clearly hearken back to David and Ingres, and beyond a need to create double, triple, and quadruple narratives.