Pop in zetel 1933

Léon Spilliaert made this watercolour, Pop in Zetel, sometime during his career, though the exact date remains unknown. The way Spilliaert handles the watercolor is interesting to me, there are visible drips and areas of pooling pigment, reminding me that it’s really just watery paint on paper. Looking at the way Spilliaert uses the brown and amber tones, you can see the paint is applied in thin, translucent washes. The way these washes overlap and blend creates a sense of depth and volume. The edges of the figure and the chair are soft and blurred, as if everything is slightly out of focus. There's this one part, just below her hands, where the blue of the skirt and the white of the dress bleed together. It’s a small area, but it speaks to this sense of fluidity that defines the whole artwork. Spilliaert’s quiet approach to image-making feels akin to the dreamlike interior worlds of Vilhelm Hammershøi. Both artists capture a sense of solitude and contemplation through their use of muted colors and understated compositions. Ultimately, Pop in Zetel embraces the beauty of the unfinished, allowing us to witness the process of its making.