The Basket of Flowers

Frederick Carl Frieseke

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the lap up, a woman looks down at a basket of flowers held on her lap in this square painting. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and her head tips down in that direction. The woman’s skin is pale, nearly white-colored and shaded with icy blue except for her faintly flushed cheeks and pink lips. Her brown hair, which is pulled up and back, and her bangs are shaded with violet purple. A necklace of pale turquoise-green beads hangs around her neck. The dress has a white bodice with a straight neckline and a full pearl-white skirt, which are also shaded with pale blue and purple. Her jacket has three-quarter length sleeves and is striped with indigo blue and white. The oval basket is tipped up to our right, suggesting that one knee is crossed over the other. The woman’s right hand, to our left, nestles among the flowers, and she holds the stem of a white flower with her other hand. She wears a gold band on the ring finger of that hand. Her armchair has a wood frame painted white with a rounded back, which is upholstered in mauve-pink and white stripes. The floor is lilac purple, and the wall above is patterned with purplish-pink and white flowers and green leaves against an amethyst-purple background. The entire painting is created with blended strokes, giving it a soft look, and has a frosty blue and pale purple cast. The artist signed the work in the lower left corner, “F.C. Frieseke.”