Pigtails 2004

Nelson Shanks made Pigtails, probably in oil paint, though we don’t know when exactly. The thing that really grabs me here is the red. It’s not just red, it’s got this hazy, dreamlike quality, almost like it was painted on a cloudy day. Looking at the back of this person, you can really see how Shanks builds up the layers. It’s not just a smooth surface. It’s all about the texture, the subtle shifts in color that make the skin look alive. Take a look at the pigtails themselves. They are kind of blurry at the edges, but it’s a good blurry, like a memory that’s slightly out of focus. I feel like the overall effect is really intimate, not just because of the figure’s nudity, but also the specific tone of the red, like a secret being shared. It makes me think of Alice Neel, whose portraits also have this kind of emotional intensity.