Seated Woman With a Hat c. 1917

Editor: Here we have Dean Cornwell’s "Seated Woman With a Hat," likely completed around 1917 using oil paint in a plein-air technique. It's… moody, I think. The colors are very muted, almost drab, yet the woman is still a striking figure in the landscape. What strikes you most about this painting? Curator: Well, darling, isn’t it wonderfully melancholic? The somberness almost whispers a forgotten narrative. The woman’s gaze – she seems utterly disconnected, doesn't she? And that discarded hat – oh, the stories a simple straw hat could tell! For me, it's a portal to a wistful autumn afternoon. Does the way Cornwell applies the paint evoke anything in you? Do you get a sense of how quickly he was working? Editor: I do see that now – it's very immediate, the brushstrokes feel quick, like he was capturing a fleeting moment. Was he known for plein-air paintings? The setting feels so integral to the mood of the piece. Curator: Indeed! Cornwell wasn't just slapping paint on canvas, he was breathing life into it! Plein-air wasn’t necessarily *the* thing he was known for, but here it serves the immediacy, yes, the capture of the very *feeling* of being present in that autumn moment. The unfinished quality is less a bug, and more of a feature. How do you feel about it now? Editor: I understand what you mean now! Seeing how that feeds into the mood makes the piece a lot more cohesive, I think. Curator: Exactly. And remember, darling, art isn’t just *what* you see, but *how* it makes you feel. That's the secret ingredient. Editor: Thank you for that insight, this painting's layers revealed some exciting and unexpected aspects for me to take away and think about.