In Playmates (1926), her daughter and a slightly older girl are sitting with a book in front of them. The girl on the left is looking straight at the viewer with large, cat-like eyes, while her friend, Ginga, is looking down at the book. The girl on the left has a sharply defined nose and eyebrows, while both girls have the pouting mouths and round cheeks of infancy. The painting was done with coarse brushstrokes that powerfully model the girls’ faces, bodies, and hair and the large book, which they are both helping to keep open with their right hands. The painting is dominated by ochre tones with touches of red. The sprawling, indeterminate shape in black on Ginga’s front contributes to the image’s impact.
Philippa Nanfeldt from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014
