Portrait of the Author Rota Margrethe Vullum 1906

Oda Krohg made this portrait of the author Rota Margrethe Vullum with oil on canvas. The painting has a muted palette with dark greens and blacks setting off the pale skin and reddish hair of the sitter. I can imagine Krohg dabbing and swirling her brush to make the lacy shawl appear both substantial and ethereal. What was Krohg thinking as she painted Vullum? I imagine she would have been considering not only Vullum's likeness but her essence as a writer. The hand that is visible holds a ring. Was this a detail that Vullum insisted upon, or did Krohg feel it helped convey something about her subject? I wonder if Vullum was a demanding sitter! Krohg's brushstrokes are confident, but the background fades away, almost unfinished. It reminds me that all artists are in conversation, building upon what came before and speaking to what comes next. We don't have to know the artist's intentions, but can appreciate painting as embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and change.