Lady With a Dog at Her Feet 1915

This image of a 'Lady With a Dog at Her Feet' by Timothy Cole—when? it doesn't say, but it feels turn of the century—makes me think about the subtle art of mood-making. The composition is quite beautiful in its arrangement of tone—a symphony in grays, blacks, and whites. I imagine Cole, a well-known wood engraver, carefully building up the image, line by painstaking line. Look at the woman, reclining, head in hand. She is weary, wistful almost. A dog sleeps at her feet. I wonder, what's on her mind? What's outside the frame? Is she bored, maybe a little sad? The image has a feeling of quietness and contemplation. There's a portrait on the wall behind her, out of focus; this reminds me how artists are always in dialogue, borrowing from each other’s work, echoing each other's thoughts across time. It reminds me that painting—any art, really—is never done in isolation.