William Dean Howells 1912

Lilla Cabot Perry painted this portrait of William Dean Howells, and it's just delicious. The way the earthy colours wash across the canvas make me think of the painting coming into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition, until she got what she wanted. I sympathize with Lilla as she’s painting, because it's hard to get flesh just right! What was she thinking when she made it? There’s so much warmth in this portrait, not just in the fleshy tones but in the dark areas around him. The colour in the shadows isn't flat: there's a feeling of movement and even the texture suggests the paint was put down with care. Perry’s painting reminds me of the work of Alice Neel, in that both artists captured the person and the personality of their sitters. You know, artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity, and so it’s a constant joy to see these echoes. I love painting as a form of embodied expression because it embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations, so I hope you find your own meaning here today.