Girl with Fox Furs c. 1909

William James Glackens made this portrait of a ‘Girl with Fox Furs’ using oil on canvas, but the exact date of the painting is unknown. Looking at it, I can almost smell the oil paint, can you? Glackens' color palette here is one of muted tones, offset by the occasional splash of color. There’s something very immediate and intuitive about his mark-making, like he’s really in the zone. I’m drawn to the way he’s built up the surface of the painting, particularly in the fox furs around the girl’s shoulders. You can see the individual brushstrokes, thick and loaded with paint, creating a real sense of texture. Look at the red brooch on her collar. It is a small dab of bright red, an accent which brings the whole composition into focus. There’s an intimacy to this piece that reminds me of Vuillard. Both artists seemed to find beauty in the everyday, capturing fleeting moments of human experience with a sensitivity and grace that transcends the ordinary. Ultimately, this painting feels like an invitation to slow down, to savor the nuances of perception.