Prelude to Alice 1955

Charles Blackman painted *Prelude to Alice* using oil on canvas, a traditional, time-honored medium, but one that is always culturally loaded. Blackman’s thick, expressive brushstrokes add a raw, almost naive quality, which belies the skill involved in its making. He seems to have painted quickly, allowing the texture of the canvas to show through in places. This immediacy, paired with the subject matter, evokes a child’s perspective of the world – innocent yet unsettling. The choice of oil paint, historically associated with high art, is interesting here. Blackman elevates the everyday, blurring the lines between fine art and illustration. In doing so, he asks us to reconsider the value we place on different forms of creative labor. Ultimately, appreciating the materials and making of this artwork allows us to understand its wider social and cultural significance.