(Window onto a summer day with sea, sailboat)

Eva Roemer

Eva Roemer was born in Berlin, Germany into a family of artists, philosophers, mathematicians, and composers - including her great uncle Felix Mendelsohn - and it was only natural that, finding an interest in art at a young age, she was encouraged to pursue painting. She attended art schools in Berlin and Hamburg before takng to the road, studying in Italy and Holland. It's not clear where she learned her woodcut technique but, owing to the burgeoning popularity of Japanese color woodcuts in Europe at the turn of the century, it is clear that she was trained by someone with such knowledge.

In this peaceful scene, a vase of white daisies sits on a sill looking out on sea and sky, both rendered in French blue. In the distance, a lone sailboat traverses the surface of the water and adds a scale to the composition. However, it is the expertly-rendered sheer curtain to the right which gives the image life. Roemer chose a transparent ivory ink to layer over the blues, allowing the billowing fabric to lend a sort of intimacy to the scene. The contrast of interior stillness against the vast open seascape allows the viewer to privately breathe the sea air through the open window.