The Parrots c. 1910

Frederick Carl Frieseke painted "The Parrots" with oil on canvas, using a delicate palette that feels both soft and airy. You can almost feel the brushstrokes building up the forms, a real sense of process here. The materiality of this painting is particularly interesting. The way Frieseke layers thin, almost transparent glazes gives the fabric a shimmering quality. Look at the dress of the woman seated. The paint is applied in these wispy strokes, like a breath on the canvas, creating a sense of movement and light. It’s especially noticeable around the edges, blurring the lines between the figures and the background. This feels aligned with works like Berthe Morisot's interiors, not so much in subject matter but in the way the light seems to dissolve form. Ultimately, painting is about uncertainty and looking, isn’t it? Frieseke's painting is a testament to that. It embraces the ephemeral, inviting us to question what we see and how we see it.