Youthful Pride 2019

Terri Kelly Moyers made this painting, Youthful Pride, sometime in the 20th century, probably with oils. There's something so charming about the straightforwardness of the paint handling here. Moyers isn't trying to hide the way she's layered the colors, especially in the folds of the blue skirt where you can see the brushstrokes building up the form. The background, with its geometric patterns, feels almost like a stage set, flat and a bit dreamlike. I keep coming back to the shadow under the girl's feet. It’s such a simple, almost cartoonish shape, but it anchors the whole painting and gives it a sense of place. It reminds me of some of Alex Katz's portraits, where the backgrounds are simplified to almost nothing, leaving the figure to float in a kind of timeless space. That shadow insists on the present and adds depth. It’s a reminder that sometimes the simplest gestures can be the most powerful.