The Lady in White, Viscountess Wimborne 1939

Sir John Lavery painted "The Lady in White, Viscountess Wimborne" with what looks like oil paint on canvas. There's a real looseness to his brushwork that suggests a way of working that’s about finding the form through the painting process itself. Look at the way he handles the white dress. It's not about rendering every fold perfectly but using broad strokes to capture the light and shadow. This isn't about hiding the hand of the artist; it's about embracing the materiality of the paint. The dress flows down over the chair, culminating in a swirling puddle on the floor; notice how Lavery has used these heavy impasto strokes of white to create a sense of movement and texture. It almost feels like the dress is still in the process of becoming. This reminds me of Whistler’s portraits, which were also as much about the arrangements of color and form as they were about likeness. Like Whistler, Lavery seems more interested in capturing a mood than a photographic representation. It’s a painting that invites us to contemplate the act of painting itself.