Loch Lomond 1948

Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid made this painting, Loch Lomond, with what looks like oil on canvas, though who knows what else she threw in there! I love the faceted surface of this painting, it's a little bit cubist, a little bit stained glass. Look at how the shapes are outlined in black, like leading, but the colors within those shapes are surprisingly vibrant, almost Fauvist. There's an energy to the surface, a real sense of a scene unfolding, like a crowded beach, or a bustling marketplace. I love how she renders the figures as these blobs of color, it’s not about detail, it’s about a feeling, a memory. The way the paint is applied in these distinct, almost mosaic-like sections, reminds me of Sonia Delaunay's simultaneous contrast paintings, where color and form create this incredible visual vibration. Zeid's painting isn't about stillness, it's about movement, about the constant flux of life. It embraces the messiness, the ambiguity, and the sheer joy of painting.