Edward Leiter 1927

Alice Pike Barney made this portrait, Edward Leiter, with pastel on paper. The mark-making is really something here; it's all about the process. Look at how the colours build up—browns, greens, yellows, and pinks all layered together. The texture is chalky, soft, but also kinda raw. You can see each stroke, how Barney used the side of the pastel to create broader areas of colour and then sharpened the edges for details. The way she's handled the light on his face, with those soft pinks and greens, gives it such a tender feel. It reminds me of how Edgar Degas would build up his pastel drawings, always leaving the marks visible, so you know it's a drawing, a construction, and not just a picture. It’s like Barney is saying, "Here is a person, but here is also the act of making a picture of a person."