Portrait of a young girl 1939

Romualdo Locatelli painted this portrait of a young girl, we don't know when, using oil on canvas. I’m really drawn to the way the paint here is dabbed and swirled, you can see it on the tree trunk to the left. It's like Locatelli is feeling his way through the painting. The colours are warm and earthy, and he uses a lot of layers to create depth, especially in the background. Look at the girl's face. The paint is thin and transparent, allowing the warm under layers to glow through, but he also uses a few decisive strokes to define her features. You can almost feel the texture of the canvas underneath. The brushstrokes around her eyes are so delicate. For me, these little dabs of colour really bring her to life. It makes you wonder what she’s thinking. Locatelli’s mark making reminds me of Van Gogh, someone who really used paint to express emotion. And, like Van Gogh, Locatelli shows us that a painting isn’t just a picture, it’s a record of a process, a conversation between the artist and the world.