Describing the Impressionist work Souvenirs or a Portrait of Miss Mary Potter can be difficult because much of the magic of the oil painting comes from the power of the portrait’s expression. Lawton Parker, the artist, has sought to present an elegant young woman in an informal, relaxed, and resting position even though she is clearly in a lavish environment. One can feel the immediacy of the moment and her facial features seem to convey layered emotions.
One can also see Miss Mary Potter’s youth in her skin and flexibility, though it also seems that her pose conveys that she is resting, relaxed, and probably even tired. She could also be described as partially interested by some hidden event that is occurring in front her. The subject, Mary Potter, is resting in a chair that is adorned with gold, wearing a formal white dress that appears wispy or translucent at the arms. She might be bored, but given the attire and the environment it seems likely that she is in a tired yet somewhat amused state. Her expression could be described as blank, but it seems more to be a blend of fatigue and jaded amusement. Miss Mary Potter slouches almost decadently, as if
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There is no way to even be certain what is being shown, as if the painting forces the viewer to invent some kind of context. There are shapes that seem vaguely human or like a distorted building. Or it could be isolated curves and angles of a face, perhaps of a man with a mustache and glasses. The message is that portraiture and the traditions of painting need to be disrupted. New York City can be described as always in flux or as always experiencing change and upheavals and I felt like Untitled was an attempt to boil all of that energy down into some symbolic gestures. Compared to the Impressionist paintings I had studied, this work by Charles Biederman was seeking to be shocking in a totally different