Portrait of a Chamorro Woman - Indigo 1934

Paul Jacoulet’s ‘Portrait of a Chamorro Woman - Indigo’ features a woman rendered in delicate indigo shades, a tranquil scene made with what seems to be a kind of watercolour. It's a moment captured, suspended in time. I imagine Jacoulet, carefully layering those blues and greys, trying to find the right balance between capturing likeness and imbuing the portrait with a sense of serene dignity. Look at the way he's painted her sheer sleeves – it’s all about transparency, like light filtering through water. There's a gentle breeze implied, maybe the rustle of those bamboo leaves. This piece reminds me of other painters of portraits who try to convey not just what someone looks like but a feeling of quiet contemplation. Artists like Alice Neel perhaps, who looked beneath the surface. Ultimately, artists everywhere are in conversation, taking inspiration from different eras and places, but connecting through a shared desire to see and to make us see too.