Woman in White 1915

Rik Wouters made this painting, Woman in White, with oil on canvas. Look at how Wouters builds up the image, like a dance of color and form, where each brushstroke is a step in the process. It's like he's thinking with the paint. The materiality of the work is very present. The paint isn't trying to hide itself; it's thick and juicy in some spots, thin and transparent in others. You can almost feel the texture of the canvas beneath. Focus on the collar: see how the white paint is layered to create a sense of depth and volume? It's not just white; it's a whole world of whites, from creamy ivory to cool blue-tinged shades. It reminds me of Cezanne, who, like Wouters, broke the world into planes of color. Art is just a conversation across time, a back and forth between artists, each building on what came before. It's about exploring possibilities rather than arriving at fixed conclusions.