Moroccan woman wearing a pink dress 1932

Zinaida Serebriakova painted this Moroccan woman wearing a pink dress in 1932. The way she builds the form is all about colour. Look at the skirt. See how touches of warm red and cool white create the folds and shadows? It’s like she's sculpting with light. You can almost feel the fabric bunching and draping, and imagine the woman’s movement, caught in a fleeting moment. The brushstrokes are visible; thick in some places, thin in others. They don’t try to hide the process. The painting feels like it's been built up layer by layer, each one adding to the overall depth. Her work reminds me of Berthe Morisot who, like Serebriakova, was painting the everyday lives of women and families in a way that felt both classical and very modern at the same time. It all goes to show you, art is a conversation across time, a back and forth of looking and responding.