Portrait of Doctor Robert Le Masle 1949

Marie Laurencin painted this portrait of Doctor Robert Le Masle in 1949. It looks as if she built up the face with delicate layers of paint. The fresh pinks of the cheeks stand out, and around the eyes, there are touches of soft blue. Laurencin captures something ephemeral and romantic. I imagine her in the studio, experimenting with color. Perhaps she’s thinking about the way the light falls on the face, or how the color shifts depending on the time of day. It’s a fleeting image. The touches of red on the lips feel so light, as if they could be wiped away at any moment. What’s great about paint is that the artist can keep on going, adding, subtracting, changing. It’s not about getting it right, but working through ideas. I can imagine her working on this portrait and thinking about what other artists might have done in a similar situation. It's like a conversation through time.