The Oak 1916

Rose O'Neill, better known for her Kewpie characters, made this painting of an oak tree, with what looks like oil paint, and a lot of love, care and attention. The way she's layered those greens, blues, and browns, you can almost feel the sun dappling through the leaves. I think, like me, O'Neill was interested in what paint can *do* as much as what it can represent. I can imagine her standing there, trying to capture the way light transforms the ordinary into something magical. See how she uses those little dabs of brighter green to create highlights? It reminds me of the work of other painters such as Monet and Morisot, who capture a fleeting impression, a moment in time. It is as if these painters are whispering to each other across generations, sharing secrets about how to see and how to make seeing visible. Each painting is a site of inquiry, an invitation to think about the world and how we perceive it.