Petite Tête De Profil 1905

Henri Lebasque painted this small portrait, Petite Tête De Profil, with oils on canvas. Look at the brushstrokes, like dabs of colour laid down next to each other. Notice the way the green and pink hues of the garden blur into the girl's hair and skin. I imagine Lebasque standing there, squinting in the sunlight, trying to capture the fleeting moment. What was he thinking as he mixed those colours, trying to capture the light on her face? Did he feel like he was getting closer to some truth about her, or about the world? It reminds me of Bonnard, and his intimate domestic scenes, like a shared glance into a private world. Painting is like that: an exchange of ideas and feelings across time. There is a sense of ambiguity here, a delicate balance between representation and abstraction, which allows for multiple interpretations and meanings. The girl is there, but she is also a series of coloured marks. And maybe that's all we ever are.