Après La Fête;-Port D’alger 1901

Frederick Arthur Bridgman made this painting, Après La Fête; Port D’alger, with oil on canvas and what feels like endless patience for detail. I can imagine him outside in the heat with his easel, trying to capture the light, the fabrics, the way the scene seemed to both shimmer and stand still. It’s funny to think about the amount of looking the artist had to do. He had to observe, select, and arrange his observations until they became something new, a painting. You can see it in the details, like the ochre walls, or the white veils of the women. There's something very old world about it, like stepping into a memory. The light feels both exotic and mundane, doesn’t it? It's what many artists have been trying to capture. It's a conversation across time, each one of us trying to show how we see, how we feel, and how we remember.