White roses represent simplicity, elegance, hope, purity–and is a favorite choice of flowers among brides for their wedding bouquets. In the painting, Anticipation, Gottlieb sets his subject amidst an abundance of climbing white roses, making the young woman a part of nature’s beauty. She cautiously and delicately reaches toward a chosen rose. Will she be rewarded with a romantic sweet perfume or pierced by a sharp thorn? Her Chinese dragon-motif dress adds a degree of auspiciousness to the moment of engagement.
