About

About the Film

Painting in Darkness tells two parallel stories: that of the brilliant and eccentric painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, as well as the coming of the modern art uprising to New York City in 1913 at the controversial Armory Show. Ryder’s journey through the film takes him to the intellectual cafés of New York City, to homeless encampments, to a snow-encrusted racetrack, and to the mansion of wealthy patrons.

The film will tell these stories in dazzling animation. We have assembled a diverse and multi-talented international team of animators and voice actors who work in a wide variety of styles: hand-drawn animation, stop-motion, claymation, as well as painted frames to share our collective vision.

“The key is to paint what you feel, not what you see.”
Albert Pinkham Ryder • Painting in Darkness

About the Filmmaker

Aaron Gwynn is a filmmaker, writer, and editor, who has completed four feature documentaries, including the award-winning the God Given Talent: the Creative Life of Charles Curtis Blackwell and Romantic Chorus. Painting in Darkness is his directorial debut, and he is the screenwriter and co-producer for the film as well.