Lady in Pink 1902

Frederick Carl Frieseke created this painting of a woman in a pink dress with oil on canvas. The marks are soft and blurry, like looking at something through a mist, and the palette is high key with a focus on pinks and creams. Frieseke’s painting revels in the material qualities of his medium, with thin washes of color layered to create a luminous effect. The textures are delicate, almost airy, giving a sense of lightness and movement. Look at the way he renders the pink dress – it's like a symphony of brushstrokes, each one carefully placed to capture the way light plays across the fabric. The overall effect is dreamy and ephemeral. The quiet intimacy of the painting reminds me of Berthe Morisot’s domestic scenes, both artists capturing a fleeting moment of beauty and contemplation. Like Morisot, Frieseke understands that the real subject of painting isn't the thing depicted, but the act of seeing itself.