Young Woman Powdering her Face 1922

Maurice Asselin painted 'Young Woman Powdering her Face' with oil on canvas, and what strikes me first is the sheer physicality of the paint. You can almost feel the texture, the slightly rough surface that invites you to reach out and touch it. The tones may be muted, but there’s a real boldness in the way the artist has applied the paint. Take a look at the woman's face, see how those broad strokes define her features, not shying away from abstraction? It's less about perfect representation and more about capturing the essence of a fleeting moment. Asselin's contemporary, Vuillard, explored similar themes in his intimate domestic scenes. Both artists remind us that art isn't about fixed answers but about embracing the messy, beautiful ambiguity of life.