Lady with Dog 1918

Gerda Wegener made this intimate scene, *Lady with Dog*, with watercolor and graphite. I can imagine Wegener’s brush dancing across the paper, capturing the soft glow of a boudoir moment. The color palette is gentle and tender, all pastel pinks and muted yellows. It makes me wonder about the relationship between Wegener and the model, Lili Elbe. There's a real tenderness here. I find myself focusing on the dog, so intent and hopeful. What's so enchanting about this shoe? It's a simple shape rendered with a delicate, almost tentative touch. I see the influence of Art Nouveau, the way she’s flattened the picture plane and embraced decorative elements. Her peer Gustav Klimt did something similar, thinking about line and form. It’s a reminder that artists build upon each other's experiments. Painting is an embodied language, a way of feeling and thinking. It's never just a depiction, it's a conversation, an exchange of ideas, and a very good way of thinking through things.