When she woke up again she was lying on the moss in the forest 1913

John Bauer painted, 'When she woke up again she was lying on the moss in the forest', and he built the image up with small marks, like he was weaving a rug with a needle. I can imagine Bauer there in the Swedish light, and his sensitivity to light is all over this picture. He was part of a generation that wanted to rediscover ‘the primitive’. I can imagine him reading folklore stories as a kid and getting excited about the troll figures and then waiting for them to arrive. Look at how he renders the figures nestled together in the forest. They are painted with such care. It’s a painting about tenderness, but also about the scary woods. The trees are painted with thin, almost translucent strokes, creating a sense of depth and mystery. There’s an enchanting and melancholic atmosphere, the forest looming behind the figures, evoking a sense of isolation. Bauer and other painters of his time, embraced ambiguity in painting as a means of expressing complex emotions. They weren’t just illustrating a scene, but inviting us into a world of imagination.