The Cathedral 1910

Rose O’Neill made this painting of a cathedral, and you can see how it seems to be emerging from thin air. It's like she built it up stroke by stroke, each dab of muted color adding to its presence. I can imagine O'Neill standing before her easel, squinting at the light as she tries to capture the cathedral's essence. The paint looks thin, almost watery in places, which gives it this ethereal, dreamlike quality. See how the brushstrokes around the towers are so soft, yet they convey the solid presence of the architecture. There's a real sensitivity to the light and atmosphere, which reminds me of other painters of that time who sought to capture their subjective experience of the world. Painters are always in conversation with one another, across time and space. O’Neill and her peers inspire our creativity. It's this openness to interpretation that makes painting so vital.