Woman's Head 1922

Paul-Albert Besnard painted this woman's head with oils, probably in one or two sittings. The ochre and fleshy pink hues are so warm, aren’t they? I can imagine the artist carefully arranging the sitter, directing her pose just so. I bet he wanted to capture that feeling of languid repose. She’s really sinking into that yellow armchair, isn’t she? You can see the brushstrokes are applied loosely, especially in the background and the chair. The paint handling is more controlled around the face, drawing our attention to her closed eyes and the gentle curve of her cheek. Besnard has paid close attention to the fall of light across the woman's face, with soft shadows defining her features. It’s lovely. It reminds me a little of Berthe Morisot's portraits, these kinds of domestic scenes. Artists, you know, we’re all in conversation with each other, across time and space, borrowing and building upon each other's ideas.