Mujer Peinándose 1923

Here, we see an undated painting, Mujer Peinándose, made by María Blanchard with oil on canvas. Look at Blanchard’s deliberate brushstrokes, building up the image piece by piece, like she's thinking through paint. The tones are muted, earthy greys and browns contrasted with pale flesh tones, giving the painting a quiet, reflective mood. The paint is applied in thick, visible layers, adding a tactile quality to the surface. You can almost feel the weight of the paint, the pressure of the brush. The woman's hand gently touching her hair is rendered with an almost sculptural quality. There’s a real tenderness in this gesture, a moment of quiet intimacy. The subtle shifts in tone and texture invite us to contemplate the complex relationship between the artist, the subject, and the act of painting itself. There's a similarity to Picasso's early cubist portraits in the way she breaks down form into geometric shapes. Blanchard’s painting isn't just about what we see; it's about how we see, and how we feel when we look.