The Music Lesson 1904

Joseph DeCamp painted 'The Music Lesson' with oils, sometime around the turn of the century, and straight away I’m drawn to the light. Not just in the image, but the way it has been applied to the canvas. There is a real softness, a delicacy to the rendering of the scene, a quiet moment of focused intensity. The brushstrokes are loose and feathery, the color palette muted. The light seems to flow and pool around the figures. See how the light floods in through the window, illuminating the scene? It's broken up by the slats of the blinds, creating a staccato effect on the wall, and this is echoed in the piano score. But look closer, notice how DeCamp uses these small, broken brushstrokes to describe the forms, giving the painting a shimmering, almost dreamlike quality. It is the equivalent of trying to remember something from your past. Hints, rather than resolution. It’s a conversation with Whistler, with Sargent, and with all those who believe painting to be more than just a record, but a feeling.