Provenance:Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, Washington.David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan.Acquired directly from the above.Private Collection, Michigan.Literature:Amy Elbert, "Driving Downtown," Traditional Home, March 2007, p. 94, illus.Mark Kurlyandchik, "An Art Filled Royal Oak Loft," Detroit Home, Autumn 2010, p. 46, illus.Note:The present painting was executed at the time of Bartlett's retrospective, which travelled to his alma mater, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in the fall of 2004. The classes took up several studio rooms in the downstairs rooms of the historic Furness Building, with models coming together in the central room during breaks, in between classes. The Prayers, as such, features many of the artist's own studio props, such as the sofa, the easel and various other furnishings.The artist recalls the genesis of the painting: " I’d gotten the idea the year before when I was traveling around the world. I’d had three Italian girls pose together in Florence.. in an apartment right off Piazza Del Duomo. I was going to call the painting Siesta. I did a series of studies but was unable to finish the painting. So I picked it up anew for the PAFA Master Class. The painting had a plethora of titles. One of my favorite models, Natasha, posed for the central figure. Alyse posed for the muse with the laurel leaf headdress. The Italian landscape around Florence makes an appearance in the background.. Cypress trees from Boboli Gardens.. an open tomb from a cemetery near Piazza Michelangelo.. a nod to Easter Sunday Studies I did in Florence for the original idea. I didn’t get completely finished during the three day class. So I finished it later from my imagination. I didn’t have a studio available as I continued to work on the painting. It was finished in a tiny carriage house in Gladwyne. I finally settled on The Prayers as the title.. because it has to do with my belief system which was going through a transition at the time.”