Three Figures 1966

Emma Amos made ‘Three Figures’ with paint. It’s a simple title, but the piece itself is anything but. The colors feel like they were chosen intuitively, like a jazz riff, responding to a feeling rather than a formula. There's something incredibly tactile about this painting. Amos’s brushstrokes are visible, almost like she’s inviting us into her process. The way she layers the colors creates a kind of depth, even though the figures themselves are relatively flat. Look at the ochre against the blue on the horizon line. Each are brushed on separately, so we can see the evidence of her movement. It's about how color can define space, not just decorate it. Amos’s work always strikes me as a conversation, not just with herself but with the whole history of painting. You could even see a touch of someone like Alice Neel in here, a shared interest in the raw, honest depiction of the human form. In the end, that's what makes art so exciting – its openness, its resistance to easy answers.