Seated Figure, Corsica 1907

Émilie Charmy painted this ‘Seated Figure, Corsica’ with oil on board, and it’s the loose brushwork that really grabs me, you can almost feel the energy of the artist at work. The painting has a real material presence. The paint isn't overly thick, but it's confident, each stroke distinct. Look at the lower left, where the greens and pinks of the grass blur together. See how the brushstrokes are visible, almost like the artist is letting us in on a secret, or allowing us to see the painting coming into being. It's interesting how she uses these rapid marks to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. This feels aligned with contemporaries like Bonnard, an artist who let the ordinary moments of life take on a grand scale. Like them, Charmy reminds us that painting isn't just about what we see, but how we see, and how we translate that onto a surface. It’s about possibilities, not fixed meanings.