Laughter. Laughing woman 1904

Joan Brull painted this laughing woman, probably in the late 19th century, with oils on canvas. I can imagine Brull’s enjoyment when he was making this. Her cheeky, unreserved expression is totally catching. The surface texture around her face is soft and hazy, with a touch of pink – it makes you feel like you’re right there with her, sharing a joke. Her smile and her slightly asymmetrical eyes draw you in. Then there's her dark hair, it's like it's been caught in a breeze. She looks like a figure from a Pre-Raphaelite painting by artists like Rossetti. This guy Brull and Rossetti – they’re both reaching back to earlier ways of painting, using those old techniques to express something very much of their own time. Painting is always a conversation like that, isn't it? Each artist chatting with the ones who came before, and adding their own little bit of mischief and insight.