Sleeping Child 1912

Henri Manguin made this painting of a Sleeping Child in a way that lets you feel the heat and the quiet of the afternoon. I can imagine him outside, squinting in the bright sunlight, painting rapidly, trying to capture the effect of light on the figure and the plants. The red of the shirt just vibrates against the fleshy pink of the skin. The greens of the surrounding flora is luscious, the paint is applied pretty thinly in some areas and scrubbed into the canvas. There is an energy to his brushstrokes, like he's trying to pin down something fleeting. It's not a perfect likeness, but it doesn't matter, it’s all about the sensation of being there, right? I think about all the artists before Manguin who painted figures outdoors, the impressionists, and how he's taking that tradition and pushing it further, making it his own. That's what painting is, a conversation across time.