The Red Curtain 1929

Giovanni Boldini seems to have made The Red Curtain with oil paint in one big whoosh, though I don’t know when exactly. It’s a study in reds and browns, like a smoky jazz club. The marks, they're so fluid, so sure. You can almost see him dancing with his brush. Look at the woman's face, those quick strokes capturing a moment. It’s like he’s painting the air around her, not just her features. The texture! It’s rough, immediate, like a fleeting thought. The red curtain itself is a starburst of energy, framing the scene, setting the mood. It’s thick, like impasto, giving it real weight. There’s a sense of unfinished business, of a moment captured in transit, like a Degas painting. It's about the process, the gesture, the sheer joy of painting itself. The ambiguity of the image is what makes it exciting.