The Pink Rose 1910

Lilla Cabot Perry rendered this portrait of a woman holding roses in paint on canvas. Look at the colour—that muted, warm yellow ochre which creates such a luminous haze. The artist has placed her figure in front of it, and the way the light bounces around, it’s almost like she’s painting light itself. I’m thinking about the act of painting, the slow, deliberate process that Perry went through to create this image, the way the brushstrokes build up layer upon layer. It's like she's whispering secrets onto the canvas. I love how she captured the woman's pose. The way she tilts her head, and the subtle curve of her back, it's all so graceful. You can sense the artist's empathy for her subject, the way she's taken the time to really see her. I imagine the artist considering the Impressionist movement, what it meant to capture fleeting moments. Perry went to France and became friends with Monet, absorbing his approach and finding her own voice. Artists are always in conversation, building on what came before, adding their own twist, and in this painting, I feel that connection.