Reclining Nude 1940

Jankel Adler made this Reclining Nude with paint, I imagine, coaxing the figure out through layers of colour. I see a palette of blues and browns, some red and peach, but it's the gestural marks that grab me—they’re laid down with a real sureness. I wonder if, as he built up this composition, Adler was chasing after something just out of reach. You know that feeling? It’s like when you are painting and trying to capture a fleeting emotion. See how the lines of the figure almost dissolve into the background, a kind of dance between presence and absence. The paint isn't too thick, more like translucent washes over a textured ground. That red mark near the bottom feels really important. It’s a bold statement. I can imagine Adler thinking, "Yes, that's it! That’s what this painting needs." The Reclining Nude evokes for me the work of other painters like Picasso. It is like artists are always responding to each other across time. Each stroke is a kind of conversation.