Day Dreams c. 1898s

Bessie Potter Vonnoh made this bronze sculpture, Day Dreams, and there's something so tender about it. It's as if she’s captured a fleeting moment, like pinning down a butterfly. The texture here is everything; it’s all about the folds in the women’s dresses, the soft curves of their bodies. The light catches the bronze in such a way that you can almost feel the weight of the fabric, the warmth of their skin. Look closely, and you'll see how the details are both precise and loose. Vonnoh wasn’t trying to make something perfect. There is a gorgeous imperfection, a human touch. Take for instance the woman lying down, her hand resting on the open book. It is so naturalistic, as if the moment happened organically. Vonnoh reminds me a bit of Auguste Rodin, with the way that he uses his own sculptural process to tap into the emotive force of the human figure, but she’s got her own voice, her own particular way of seeing.