Anna 1927

Prudence Heward made this portrait, "Anna," with oil on canvas, and it’s a real feast for the eyes, full of flat blocks of color. I can almost see her painting this, standing back, squinting, and then laying down these deliberate strokes, not worrying about blending too much. Look at the red vest against the pale blue-ish shirt – it's like she’s carving out forms with color. Maybe Heward was thinking about Cezanne and those artists who came before her. It makes me think about how paintings are these ongoing conversations, artists riffing off each other across time, inspiring each other’s creativity. It’s all about the feeling of the paint, the touch of the brush, you know? Painting is a kind of embodied expression, isn't it? It's about embracing ambiguity, allowing for multiple readings. Heward embraces that with "Anna," inviting us to bring our own feelings and interpretations to the table.