Goose Plucking 1910

Eugen von Blaas created this painting, Goose Plucking, in oil, though the exact date remains unknown. The smoothness of the paint is striking, especially in the women’s skin tones, all rendered with a precise, almost porcelain finish. It makes me think about how much the artist valued a polished surface, one without many visible traces of the hand. Take a closer look at the basket filled with white feathers. The artist uses small touches of paint to describe the softness of the feathers, giving them a gentle, airy quality. It's a small area, but it suggests that even within a highly controlled painting, there's a space for delicate, almost playful mark-making. The feathers are a little abstract, little chaotic, a real counterpoint to the controlled style of the figures. Von Blaas has something in common with artists like Bouguereau, masters of an almost hyper-realistic technique. Still, I prefer art with more ambiguity!