Frieda Schiff (1876–1958), Later Mrs. Felix M. Warburg

Color in Painting

Anders Zorn

Frieda Schiff (1876–1958), Later Mrs. Felix M. Warburg

1894

Oil on canvas, 101 × 76.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A pink gown, warm skin and a background of dark red-brown at right and pale gray-beige at left keep the picture mostly warm. The coolest notes are the soft grays of the patterned hanging.

  • The pink of her first evening gown goes on in quick strokes that change length and direction.
  • Tradition says he used only four colors: white, yellow ochre, vermilion and black.
  • Research published by the Zorn Museum in 2023, based on his paints, palettes and orders, found more, including cobalt blue, viridian and cadmium yellow.
  • The museum record does not list the paints in this canvas, so its exact palette is not known.

Concepts

Image: The Met Open Access, 1988.72 · CC0

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