Woman in the Kitchen, 1935

Jean Brusselmans has transformed the intimate scene of a woman in the kitchen into a stylised composition of planes and lines. Through the austere forms and their intense simplification he has reduced all the elements of the painting to their essence. The bright touches of red and white add an element of freshness to the rather sombre surroundings in which Brusselmans painted his wife. Her attitude is one of resignation and her face expresses very little emotion. Around her we see the attributes of a simple life, objects which are often depicted in Brusselmans’ still-lifes. In his search for the right form the artist always found new inspiration in his everyday surroundings.