Nu au tapis vert c. 1920

Henri Lebasque made "Nu au tapis vert," with oil on canvas, layering shades of green, pink and gray. I can almost feel the artist building up the surface, stroke by stroke, trying and trying again until the figure emerges from a haze of color. I imagine Lebasque standing before the canvas, brush in hand, coaxing the light to bring the model to life. See how the brushwork is loose and gestural, like he's trying to capture a fleeting impression rather than a perfect likeness. Those dashes of pink and cream on her skin—aren't they delicious? It makes me think of other painters who were obsessed with the figure, like Bonnard or Vuillard, but there's something so down-to-earth about Lebasque’s approach. I like to think of artists as being in conversation, building on each other's ideas and pushing painting in new directions. When I look at this picture, I'm reminded that painting is just a way of seeing, of making sense of the world around us, and of sharing that vision with others.