Nurse I (Kaija Lahtinen) 1943

Helene Schjerfbeck made this painting, Nurse I, with oil on canvas. You can see how Schjerfbeck lays down the paint thinly, almost like watercolour, allowing the canvas to breathe through. It’s like she’s searching for the image, feeling her way through the layers. The texture is smooth, and the colors are muted, creating a quiet, contemplative mood. Look at the nurse’s face: the simple lines, the closed eyes, and those rouge circles on her cheeks give her a kind of otherworldly beauty. I think about that cross hanging from her neck – a symbol of care and sacrifice, rendered in this almost crude, yet tender way. It’s about the vulnerability of the human condition, isn't it? Schjerfbeck reminds me of Agnes Martin, both artists stripping away the excess to reveal something essential about feeling and form. And like Martin, Schjerfbeck invites us to slow down and really see, to find meaning in the subtle nuances of paint and the quiet poetry of everyday life.