Portrait of Mrs. Lydia Keirkner 1922

Magnus Enckell painted this portrait of Mrs. Lydia Keirkner with visible brushstrokes that give it a raw, immediate feel. Looking at it, I can almost feel the artist standing there, brush in hand, trying to capture her essence. The blacks and browns mixed with muted golds give the portrait a kind of somber beauty, while the small dab of teal lifts the heavy atmosphere, creating an unusual, yet beautiful contrast. I wonder if Enckell was aiming for that sense of restrained elegance so typical in portraits from this time? Or maybe he was just trying to capture something more personal about Mrs. Keirkner? It's fascinating how a simple painting can hold so much, and what the subject thought of it all. I see echoes of artists like Whistler in Enckell's approach to color and composition, with some Van Gogh thrown in too. Painting is always like that, artists riffing off each other, and creating something new in the process.