Alexander Agassiz 1901

Jules Joseph Lefebvre painted this oil on canvas of Alexander Agassiz, but I don’t know when exactly. Look at the almost fleshy pink used in Agassiz’s gown; it's really something! The surface of the canvas is pretty smooth, and the brushstrokes are blended, almost invisible. This makes the whole thing feel formal, but also kind of distant. I keep getting drawn back to the folds of that robe. How the light catches them, and how Lefebvre uses these subtle shifts in color to create such depth, it’s fascinating. It almost feels like he’s sculpting with color. This kind of portraiture reminds me a little of John Singer Sargent, who also had a knack for capturing the textures and surfaces of fancy clothes. Both of them show us that art is about more than just capturing a likeness, it's about creating a whole world of feeling and sensation on the canvas.