Tea Time 1903

Albert Lynch, sometime in the early 20th century, made this painting of a tea party. It’s all muted tones – creamy pinks and yellows - except for the girl in the red dress holding a big bunch of flowers. I can imagine him in his studio, trying to capture the soft light filtering through the window, trying to get just the right angle of the teapot as the woman pours. The way he blends those colors feels like a caress. Look how gently he models their faces, barely any shadow! He's really celebrating feminity here, but with the light and colors, not the poses, which are rather demure. You sense that he saw something special in these women. I get a feeling of quiet anticipation, like something interesting might happen. Isn't painting just looking, and then looking again, trying to record the light as it passes? Like a conversation between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewer.