Mrs Annie Murdoch 1927

George Washington Lambert made this oil on canvas painting of Mrs. Annie Murdoch, but we don’t know exactly when. Look how Lambert has used the darkest tones for the background, as if to have Mrs Murdoch emerge out of the darkness! I wonder what he might have been thinking when he made it. Perhaps he was trying to capture her essence, her life experience, in the lines of her face, in the slight smile. See how thin the paint is in her face, how the subtle brushstrokes blend together, and how her skin almost seems to glow? I’m moved by the attention to the details of the fur stole. Doesn’t it look incredibly soft? You can almost feel the texture, the warmth. Painters are constantly in conversation with each other, building on what has come before, responding to the present. Painting is a way of feeling, thinking, and seeing, and a way of sharing those experiences with others.