Barbara 

Valeria Duca made this painting, Barbara, using oil paint on canvas. It's a very direct approach to portraiture, deploying one of the most established techniques in the history of Western art. And yet, there is something distinctly contemporary about it. The artist has used visible brushwork, allowing the painting's materiality to remain apparent, which creates a sense of immediacy, almost as if the artist has sought to capture a fleeting moment, bringing her and her sitter into the present. One thing to consider is that oil paint has, since the Renaissance, been the favored medium of the European elite. It is a costly and time-consuming method, requiring patience and expertise. The artist’s mastery is apparent in the handling of the paint, particularly the way she builds tone and volume, but there is also a certain democratic sensibility at play. Paying attention to materials and making allows us to see that what might seem like a straightforward painting is, in fact, a statement about the relationship between historical tradition, individual expression, and the broader cultural landscape.