Hollywood 1927

Alice Pike Barney made this portrait, Hollywood, in 1929 with pastel on paper. I can imagine her building up the image in layers, starting with the warm tan background. It must have been a dance of smudging and hatching, the side of the pastel stick creating a soft bloom of color around the figure. I wonder if she knew her sitter well. The red hat, with its dynamic, almost clashing relationship to the red shawl, creates a bold fashion statement. I’m curious if she used anything to fix the pastel to the paper, and how the fixative might have changed the quality of the color. There’s a flurry of strokes in the background. It gives the figure some space. These marks almost suggest angel wings. Maybe it’s a reference to other portraits from art history? Alice Pike Barney, like all artists, engaged in a long, ongoing conversation with the history of painting. Thinking through her own life and experiences, she made something unique and beautiful.