Portrait of Mrs E. Gadolin-Lagervall 1901

Magnus Enckell painted this portrait of Mrs. E. Gadolin-Lagervall with oil on canvas. It's kind of painterly, isn't it? You can really see the marks, which I love. It's funny, the painting feels both finished and unfinished. Like he’s really thought about her face, but elsewhere he's left these loose, gestural marks. Look at the way he’s painted her white dress, all these wispy brushstrokes, like he’s trying to capture the light. See how they kind of mimic the lace at the neckline? There's something about this attention to the interplay of light and shadow that makes you wonder about the nature of perception itself. Enckell’s handling of paint reminds me a little of Whistler, in the way that he manages to create a psychological portrait with such understated means. These paintings are not just about what we see, but how we see.