De zes dochters Boissevain 1916

Thérèse Schwartze painted these six sisters, the Boissevain daughters, with oil on canvas sometime around 1911. The earthy greens and ochres here feel so intimate. I love how the artist has captured these sitters with such individuality, yet also with a striking sense of familial resemblance. Take a look at the girl to the right, in the large black hat with the feather, how the paint handling is so direct. Schwartze uses these very loose, gestural marks to create form. You can see the movement of the brush, her decision-making almost like a dance across the canvas. The hat seems to emerge from the background. It’s a totally different approach from the smoothness of the skin. These contrasts create this tension that’s so alive. It reminds me of Manet’s portraiture. A painting that is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, a form which embraces ambiguity.