Dziewczynka w berecie z pomponem 1927

Tadeusz Makowski made this painting of a girl in a beret, though when exactly is a bit of a mystery. He's not throwing paint around, but the way he builds up the color gives the work this lovely sense of coming-into-being. It's like he's feeling his way through the image. Looking closely, the paint has a soft, almost chalky texture. The colors are muted, a mix of earth tones and pale pinks that create a gentle, dreamy atmosphere. The background is a scumble of tan, dragged down vertically. See how the beret is built up with layers of brown, almost like earth itself, then look at the small area of blue and pink in the pompom and how this little burst of color brings the whole piece to life. Makowski reminds me a little of Chaim Soutine, in the way he seems to wrestle with the paint to find the image, rather than imposing an idea onto the canvas. There's a real tenderness here, a sense of searching, that I find really touching.