Portrait of Daisy Weber 1907

Theo van Rysselberghe painted this portrait of Daisy Weber with oil on canvas, and it’s like looking through a kaleidoscope. The way he builds up the image with these tiny, distinct dots of color, it’s as if he’s inviting us to witness the very process of seeing. There's a passage of grass in the lower left, built with tiny flicks of green, blue and brown, it almost dissolves into pure color when you look closely. The texture isn't just on the surface; it’s woven into the fabric of the scene. The painting isn’t trying to trick you into thinking it's real. Instead, it’s showing you how it’s made, like brushstrokes of thought. This pointillist technique reminds me of Seurat, but Rysselberghe brings his own sensitivity to it. Art is all about these conversations across time, riffing on each other’s ideas, and never giving us the same answer twice.