Lady in a Green Jacket

1913

Oil on canvas, 44 × 43.5 cm. Museum Ludwig, Cologne

Strollers in hats and jackets pause under trees beside blue water. Nothing happens beyond people out for a walk, and the picture carries no symbols or story.

Look at the faces: they are turned away or barely marked, so no one meets our eye.
Behind the strollers, pale houses sit on the near bank and distant hills rise across the water.
Color goes on in clear, separate areas, while the trees are soft, loose patches of green and yellow.
Figures become flat, simple silhouettes of strong color, like the woman in green at the center, yet the scene stays easy to read as a real place.
Bought in 1947 with Haubrich-Fonds money for Cologne's Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, it was transferred to its present home in 1976.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · PD-Art