The breezy afternoon sky of Monet’s « Woman with a Parasol/Madame Monet and Her Son (1875) » is shoved to the edges in Pushing Back the Light to make way for the viscous black expanse that replaces it. Kaphar’s interference in color, texture, and framing question the idyllic projections of each scene as if to ask: What else was going on in the late nineteenth century that would tell another story? What was life like for the non-leisure class that enabled such a joyous and picturesque afternoon? Kaphar’s adaptation of unconventional objects forces the reevaluation of materials and meanings acceptable for painting as narrative form.