Angels – Annunciation 1906

Hans Thoma made this painting of angels, though when and with what I can't be certain. It’s all hazy, dreamy, like memory itself. There’s something so tender about the color palette, these muted, grayish blues, greens, and mauves. It makes me think about how artmaking is so often about layering and how these colors might have been chosen, mixed, then changed again and again. Look how the figures emerge from this atmospheric space, almost like they’re dissolving into it. The edges are soft, indistinct, particularly around the putti on the right, with just a hint of pink in their wings. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, blending, and softening. The paint looks thin, like watercolor, which adds to the ethereal feel. This work reminds me a little of Puvis de Chavannes, with its quiet, melancholic mood, but Thoma’s got something else going on, a kind of earthy sweetness. Art is always a conversation, and it’s so interesting to see how artists build upon what came before. There’s a lot of room for interpretation here, and that’s what makes it so interesting.