Flutist

A woman wearing a broad hat, grey jacket and a long dark skirt with red stripes stands on a stone embankment, both hands raised as she plays a flute or recorder. Behind her a hazy cityscape of towers and rooftops lines the far bank of a river, and at her feet sits an open suitcase filled with small stuffed animals and a doll.

The scene is built from thick, dabbed strokes in muted blue-grey, ochre and rose tones, with the pale sky and misty skyline dissolving into soft atmospheric light. The heavy impasto surface and subdued palette give the street performance a quiet, melancholic mood.