Girl with Lute 1905

Thomas Wilmer Dewing painted this girl with her lute probably sometime in the late 19th century, and honestly, the blurry edges make me think of my own painting process: layering, scraping, and searching for form. Look at how the color is scrubbed in, like he’s wiping away as much as he’s adding. Her dress is barely there, all these shimmering strokes suggesting folds and fabric, but never quite resolving. It’s like a memory of a dress, not the thing itself. And the way the rug is painted is incredible; so much energy in the marks that almost obscure any sense of depth or space. See that dark slash of green, right at the front? It’s so bold and assertive, it practically vibrates! It reminds me a little of Whistler, this interest in mood and atmosphere, but Dewing has his own thing going on. It's like he's trying to capture the feeling of music, not just the image of a girl playing an instrument. It’s ambiguous, and that's what makes it interesting.