Windy Day at Ostende — Woman in Pink — Alfred Stevens Postcard

The wind is coming straight off the sea — one hand presses her yellow bonnet down to keep it in place, the pink salmon ruffled dress is pinned flat against her by the gusts, and the orange parasol stays firmly closed against the weather. Behind her on the pebbly shore, a smaller figure walks with a child. The sky is grey and stormy, the sea choppy with steamships and sailboats — unmistakably Ostende in blustery weather.

Alfred Stevens painted the Belgian coast in every mood, and this is among his most physically alive: the instinctive gesture of a hand on a hat says more than any staged pose could. Part of the Alfred Stevens collection — postcard, 10×15 cm, 350 g/m² cardstock.