Portrait of An Italian Lady 1908

Fujishima Takeji painted this portrait of an Italian lady with oils, and you can really see the artist feeling their way through the painting process. There’s such a delicate balance here between the very precise, almost photographic rendering of the face and the much looser handling of the background. Look at how the light falls across her face, softly illuminating her features, then notice how that detailed area gives way to these broad, gestural strokes in the shadowy background. It's like Takeji is letting the painting breathe, allowing it to exist somewhere between representation and abstraction. The subdued palette reinforces this feeling – it’s restrained, almost muted, which makes it all the more compelling. It feels as though Takeji's looking at Whistler, and also anticipates the work of someone like Gerhard Richter. He asks us to appreciate art’s capacity to hold different interpretations, all at once.