Mrs. Anni Lagerborg 1914

Magnus Enckell made this small oil painting of Mrs. Anni Lagerborg, caught in a moment of quiet absorption, sometime around 1914. The colors are soft, chalky, and somehow gentle. You can see how the marks of the brush create these almost geometric planes, particularly on her face, that still manage to conjure the soft curve of her cheek and the bridge of her nose. I wonder what Enckell was thinking as he painted her. Did he know her well? You get the feeling he’s trying to catch something about her interior life, her thoughts, the way a book can transport you somewhere else completely. See how the green of the book she is reading is echoed in the background. It's like the pages contain the key to the whole scene. The painting is made from a collection of marks, a sum of soft gestures. It reminds me that as artists we're all in conversation, building on each other's visions, finding new ways to see and feel the world through paint.