Dziewczyna z jabłkiem w oknie 1922

Tadeusz Makowski made this painting of a girl with an apple in a window sometime in the early 20th century. The painting is really quite tender. I imagine him thinking about the girl and the apple, maybe how they are both sweet and a bit mysterious. I love how the gray, brown and white paints are applied so freely to build up a slightly dirty surface texture. The paint feels thick and a little scratchy, like the walls of an old house, and makes you want to reach out and touch it, feel its strange realness. The apple itself is painted with more attention, as though he wants it to pop. The girl’s hat gives a burst of unexpected color, a flash of joy. It looks so soft, the bow tied ever so gently. The loose painting of the background makes the figure stand out, but also melds her into the painting. Makowski has given us a moment of pure feeling here, something that painters have been doing for centuries.