Study of a Female Figure c. 1930

Olga Boznanska made this study of a female figure, using oil, and wow, what a color! It’s all in a minor key, like a faded photograph, barely registering. You can sense her struggle – or maybe her delight – in trying to capture something so fleeting. I love how the dark mark of the figure’s arm blends in with the background. You can see how the painting is built up in layers of thin, transparent paint. It's like she's trying to find the form, letting it emerge slowly, almost reluctantly, from the murky depths. Her paintings remind me a little of Whistler’s, though maybe a bit more melancholic, more inward-looking. Both of them understood that a painting doesn’t have to shout to be heard. Sometimes, the quietest voices are the most powerful. Art is a conversation.