An unhappy love triangle lies at the heart of the novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. Robert based his series “A Seal Upon Thine Heart” on this novel and his images present lover, husband and wife, sometimes all together, sometimes not. In Permutations, Robert presents a stylized depiction of this love triangle in a still nascent stage. The wife, whose back is to the viewer, turns a blind eye to her husband’s attention to another woman. The oversized sunglasses function as a disguise for the woman in the bright-coloured blouse. The bodies of the husband and wife are touching; the other woman is free and unattached to anyone, though this state looks like it could change at any moment. This sense of impending change adds a tension to the figures.

The composition is divided into three horizontal bands into which are inserted the three contrasting heads. The lines formed by the waves and clouds link all three figures and help give a sense of motion to the man. The overhanging roof adds ambiguity to the space. The figures appear to be outdoors, but on a terrace or veranda. Only the wife is interested in the scenery; the lovers are intent on other things.

This is the first image that Dale Gorveat posed for. Dale, along with Heather Pitt, the woman on the left, would pose for all subsequent images in the series, as well as for many images in “Illness and Healing.”