Portrait Of Lady In Blue 1905

"Portrait of a Lady in Blue" was painted by Raimundo de Madrazo, but the date is unknown, so we can only imagine what the artist was thinking in this moment of creation. The painting is awash in blues and browns, and feels like a series of questions about form, identity, and representation. The subject emerges out of this mass of earth tones, swaddled in a magnificent blue dress and hat, a dark fur over one arm. I wonder about the artist’s state of mind when he made this, and how it reflects Madrazo’s interest in capturing the fleeting moments of everyday life. He was inspired by the Old Masters, for sure, but he was also deeply embedded in the artistic explorations of his own time. These are the kind of pictures that keep me going and remind me that painters are always in conversation, exchanging ideas across time, and inspiring each other's creativity.