Vrouw met kind lezend aan tafel 1917

Léon Spilliaert made this watercolour painting, "Woman with Child Reading at a Table", with such delicate precision. It’s like he’s feeling his way through the scene, each brushstroke tentative and exploratory. The colours are muted and watery, the paint almost floating on the surface. There’s a beautiful tension between the carefully rendered details, like the geometric patterns on the window and the flowing, ethereal treatment of the figures. The way Spilliaert handles the paint feels so connected to the act of seeing itself, like he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment of perception. Notice the blue details on the clothes which bring a gentle accent to the work. This work shares a lot with Vuillard, especially in its intimacy and subtle way of rendering the everyday.