Mrs. John Crosby Brown c. 1900

Anders Zorn painted this portrait of Mrs. John Crosby Brown using oil on canvas. Zorn was a master of bravura brushwork. Oil paint, ground from pigment and oil, allowed for subtle gradations of tone and color, as well as visible textures and marks, all of which Zorn exploited to great effect. Look closely, and you can see how he captured the soft folds of her dress with just a few strokes. The loose handling of paint, the quickness of the mark-making, and the subtle effects of light, indicate Zorn’s engagement with the impressionist aesthetic. While painting is often viewed as a solitary, individual pursuit, consider the labor involved in producing the materials: from mining pigments to weaving canvas. The skilled labor of the painter is only the final step in a longer chain of production. Thinking about all of this labor deepens our appreciation for paintings like this, and prompts us to consider the broader social and economic context in which they were made.