Fritz von Uhde's wife died at an early age, leaving him with the care of three daughters. He loved to feature them in his paintings. I'm thinking of the parents in parts of the world where there's war or disaster, fighting so hard to stay together, to create a sense of normalcy.
Here we see the girls in two rooms, the two younger are in an outer room, brightly lit with a big window. But it's an opaque window—the artist seems to want us to stay inside with him. These girls are at a round table which is perhaps the breakfast table doubling as a desk. Did the flowers on the table come from the family garden? Today, someone might think the girl is working on her laptop. But that's her sewing box with the top open. The youngest girl might be cutting a piece of fabric. Is that a doll's dress laid out on the table? Or is she already so skilled with a needle and thread she is sewing a simple dress for an infant?
The oldest girl (a young lady really) is at the sideboard and looking over at the dining room table. I imagine she is thinking, "How many will there be for dinner? What dishes will we need?" The paint strokes the artist used to depict this oldest daughter seem energy-charged. We might call to mind the gospel account of Martha and Mary with their contrasting contemplative and busy energies. Luke 10:38-42. We're not one or the other, but both energies are in us, and to be called upon for God and the world, whether it is the close at hand world of our immediate relationships, or the larger world we can help to heal as we're able.
