Woman in bed (Sleeping girl) 1922

Walter Gramatté painted this watercolour of a sleeping woman in bed, and it feels like it almost dissolved into being. See how the colours drip and pool? How the forms emerge gently? I bet he was a real feeler, this guy. I wonder if he started with the blue washes, letting them bleed into one another. It’s like the whole scene is submerged in water. There’s the turquoise of the bedspread with its floral motif, the indigo hair of the sleeping woman, and the way the brushstrokes are so loose and free. It’s like he’s trying to capture not just the image of someone asleep, but the feeling of sleep itself. The whole thing has got this kind of dreamy quality. I’m picturing him, brush in hand, really vibing with his materials, letting the water do its thing. It makes me wanna grab my own paints and just let go, y’know? Gramatté’s work reminds me that painting can be like catching a feeling, a fleeting moment, and pinning it down on paper before it disappears.