The portrait of woman 1913

Andre Derain painted this portrait of a woman with oil on canvas, and it feels like he was really figuring it out as he went. The way the blue brushstrokes of her shawl kind of dissolve into the background, that's not just sloppiness, it's a way of seeing! There's a cool tension between the loose brushwork and the way her face is so carefully drawn. It’s like Derain is asking us to think about what really makes a portrait a portrait. The hand resting on the shawl is interesting, too. It’s so present, so much more physically there than anything else in the painting. I can almost feel the warmth of her skin. I love the way that one vivid detail makes the rest of the painting feel more alive. Derain, with his Fauvist pals like Matisse, really opened the door for so many painters to think about color and form in new ways. And that conversation is still going on today.