Portrait of Bent von Müllen as a Boy 1894 - 1943

Edvard Weie made this painting of Bent von Müllen as a boy with oil on canvas, and it feels like a moment captured in time. The brushstrokes are visible, thick in places, like around the boy's sailor suit, but thin and transparent around the edge of the curtains. This shows how Weie was thinking through the process of painting, not just copying what he saw, but feeling his way through it. Notice the way Weie painted the book, it's not just a book, it's a block of muted green that draws our eye to the centre of the painting and acts as a focal point to bring the elements together, like the thick daubs of green in the background. It reminds me of the work of Vilhelm Hammershøi, but with a bit more colour and life. Art is always in conversation with itself. What are your thoughts on this painting?