Finnish Nurse III 1943

Helene Schjerfbeck’s ‘Finnish Nurse III’ is an oil painting where thin washes of pink, black, and gray define a figure with sharp, yet soft-edged strokes. You get the sense that the artist applied thin layers, wiping off some areas and then building others up. What was it like to paint this? I imagine Schjerfbeck squinting, stepping back, then stepping in to add touches of definition. This painterly process feels like a form of asking questions—how much detail is too much? And how can a few dabs of color convey character? See how she uses a muted palette that allows the geometry of the face to come forward and the paint seems to be barely there, a ghost of an image. You can see how other artists such as Manet and Cezanne have likely influenced her reductive style. Ultimately, Schjerfbeck’s approach invites us to slow down, look closer, and explore the ambiguous space between representation and abstraction, where the process of seeing becomes as important as what we see.