Mirage

Three costumed figures in diamond-patterned harlequin dress stand among tall clipped rows of pink and crimson roses, each holding a slender rod; one raises a pale blue mask beside her own face. Small dark birds perch along the hedges and lanterns hang from thin poles, while the background breaks into interlocking colored triangles, with a curved dark shape along the bottom suggesting a boat.

Gold, ultramarine, violet and deep rose are laid in flat, faceted patches that read like stained glass or mosaic tile, with fine ornament picked out in black and white over every surface. The airless, patterned scene and the masked figure give it a theatrical, dreamlike stillness, more decorative fantasy than observed reality.