Also titled My Sweet Rose, this is an early 20th-century oil on canvas. It depicts the alluring sensuality characteristic of the artist’s painting oeuvre and his exploration of the female figure.
The central figure in The Soul of the Rose painting is a woman, she is seen from a side angle, sniffing a pink rose growing against a wall. Her right hand holds the rose to her nose, while her left hand gently rests against the wall.
If we look at the surroundings, it is evident the woman stands in a courtyard of sorts. Behind her, in the lower right part of the composition, is a plant pot and what appears to be a sliver of a window just above it, the rest of the building is out of our view.
We are facing the central figure almost at eye level, as if we can step into the composition at any moment. She further fills up the foreground, giving us no choice but to engage with her experience and her feelings.