Figure in a Room 1912

Frank W. Benson made this 'Figure in a Room' with oil on canvas, though when exactly, nobody seems to know. The way he’s got light falling here is something else. All those buttery, soft brushstrokes really make the whole thing glow. And the way he’s built up the layers, you can almost feel the texture of the room, as if the air itself is painted. I love the way that dark curtain on the left is almost devouring the light, but there's still something drawing your eye, isn't there? Look at how he painted the face of the figure, so loose, so fast! It’s like he wasn’t trying to capture a perfect likeness, but more like a feeling, a mood. Then there's the table, it’s like a dark mirror, grounding the whole scene with its heavy presence. It's reminiscent of Whistler in its tonal harmonies. Benson seems to ask: what are we really seeing when we look at art? The real or something else entirely?