Rosa Schapire 1920

Walter Gramatté made this portrait of Rosa Schapire with what looks like a combination of crayon, pastel and ink. The colours create a really distinctive atmosphere. It feels like Gramatté is using the blue palette as a kind of emotional filter, giving us insight into his feelings as he looked at his subject. It's interesting how the marks are so present. You can really feel the artist's hand in the way the colors are applied, almost scrubbed into the paper. Notice how the white of the paper creates highlights and texture in the hair, and around the figure. These marks are really urgent and direct, as if capturing a likeness wasn't so much about representation, but about conveying something deeper. Look at the way the lines around the eyes are drawn, almost like a mask. It's these kinds of details that give the painting its emotional punch. I'm reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another German artist who fearlessly explored the intensity of human experience through colour and form. Art isn’t about fixed meanings, it’s more like a conversation, a back-and-forth between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers.