“Ascension” stands out for its arresting image and the artist’s sure hand in a brushy, expressive style of realism. The mysterious painting depicts a girl floating in space, eyes closed, her blue wings tinged with heavenly gold. The work is an allegorical portrayal of a child, not of the status quo, placed in opposition to accepted high art which in this image is Mondrian’s “Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930.