He sees ault as having painted clear and calm scenes in a desperate attempt to control the muddled chaos not only in his personal life but also in the world at large , on the verge of world war ii .
For the exhibition , the first major retrospective of ault 's work in more than 20 years , nemerov , a former pre-doctoral fellow and research assistant at the museum , selected nearly 20 paintings by ault as well as ones by his contemporaries , including edward hopper , andrew wyeth and charles sheeler .
Its radiating beams are reminiscent of the light in sassetta 's 15th - century painting the journey of the magi , a reproduction of which ault kept in his studio .