Little Liisa 1879

Helene Schjerfbeck captured this intimate oil sketch of "Little Liisa". Observe the subtle yet potent symbol: the blue-striped dress. Stripes, throughout art history, have oscillated between representing marginality and modernity. Think of medieval jesters, adorned in stripes to signify their liminal social position, or consider the striped uniforms of the condemned during the French Revolution. Yet, by the late 19th century, stripes began to symbolize the avant-garde, freedom, and the nautical life—a motif embraced by Impressionists and later, modernists. Here, the stripes possess an ambivalence, suggesting both the constraints of childhood and an emerging sense of self. The child's gaze is directed towards the future, yet she is held, perhaps unconsciously, within the bounds of societal expectations. This complex interplay of freedom and restriction resonates with our own psychic struggles, reminding us that symbols often carry layered, even contradictory meanings across time.