A few months ago I traveled to Philadelphia to see the “Marie Laurencin” exhibit at the Barnes Foundation. She was a painter in Paris 1920s and is best known for creating her own style of paintings with only women in them. The focus of her work was women and while at the exhibit I learned that she used codes in her work to show her love of women and in paintings where she was in them she painted the figure representing her a darker grey than the other figures. When I look at her work I always think of Impressionism but that term doesn’t really capture what she was about. Her work was, and still is, not as well known as the men of that time but she did have many commissions by famous women to have their portrait painted.
About five years ago I was introduced to her work and what initially grabbed me was how lightly her paint was applied (she was an oil painter) and that she used bright colors. I don’t paint the way she does but I have learned so much by studying her work and have been using brighter colors and applying the paint to the canvas in a delicate manner. My work is mostly portraits of women from imagination but my intent is to show female empowerment, independence, and growth. I was amazed to look at her paintings and not see definite brush lines (except one of the last paintings in the show) and up close her paintings reminded me more of illustration with their light touch.
