Portrait of a girl with blond hair 1980

Rosemarie Beck painted this 'Portrait of a girl with blond hair' with oil on canvas, though we don't know exactly when. Look at the way Beck fearlessly moves paint around, almost sculpting the face with strokes of pink, orange, and just a touch of green. It feels like she’s figuring out the form as she goes, which, to me, is what art’s all about. The paint is laid on thick and juicy. See how each brushstroke is visible, building up the volume and the light? There's a dark blue stroke in the lower portion of the painting, near the shoulder, that really makes the pink hues pop. It's like a little jolt, a reminder that color is never alone, and the way we lay down marks changes everything. This portrait feels like a conversation with artists like Alice Neel, who also weren't afraid to get messy and real with their portraits. It's this sense of ongoing dialogue that makes art so exciting, right?