The Green Parasol 1911

Rose O'Neill painted “The Green Parasol” with oils on canvas, and you can see her brushstrokes working and layering to create a shimmering effect. Look at the way she’s used blues and greens to capture the light filtering through the leaves, a kind of dappled reality. I wonder about Rose sitting there, trying to capture this scene and this person, in this moment, and the way that painting itself becomes a kind of inquiry. The fabric of the woman’s kimono is built with these dabs of blue and white, mimicking the play of light on the water. I can imagine O'Neill thinking about Monet and the Impressionists, about how to convey not just what’s there, but how it feels to be there. What's really cool is how the green parasol is not just an object, but a source of light and color that ties everything together. It's like she's saying, ‘Hey, look at this world I see, all these little moments, this person.’ And that's how artists talk to each other across time, creating a conversation that never really ends. Each brushstroke is an attempt to give form to something intangible, inviting us to see and feel in new ways.