Girl with Fox Furs c. 1909

William James Glackens made this painting of a ‘Girl with Fox Furs’ with oil on canvas, and right away I want to dive into the making of it, that amazing moment when it all comes into being. I love the way Glackens works with the brush, his marks, and the colors, and the sense of the painting emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Glackens, imagining what it might have been like to paint her. What was he thinking when he made it? I see the material aspects of the painting, texture, color, surface, and the physicality of the medium. Look how thick the paint is, it shapes our experience and contributes to the emotional resonances. That brushstroke across the blue pattern of the background almost sings. Painters are always in conversation with one another, across time, and inspire one another’s creativity. Painting is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.