The Violinist (The Violin: Girl with a Violin III) 1902

Joseph DeCamp conjured “The Violinist” from oil on canvas sometime in his career; its earth tones, muted and luminous, make the painting feel as soft as a memory. Look at that dress! It shimmers as though DeCamp mixed light into the pigment itself. And the violinist—she’s really feeling it, right? I wonder if DeCamp was thinking about Whistler when he painted this, or maybe even Vermeer. How do you capture the feeling of music, that melancholic vibration, in something static? This painting feels like it emerged slowly, the product of patient observation and a kind of quiet, meditative labor. As a painter, I feel like I am in conversation with all these artists, we are kindred spirits! Each stroke is a decision, a question asked and tentatively answered. It’s never really about perfection, but more about chasing the feeling. You know?