Lisbon Bouquet 1935

Carlos Botelho made "Lisbon Bouquet" with paint, probably oils, using a patchwork of marks in a warm but muted palette. Isn’t it interesting how a painting can be both a window onto the world, and a collection of textural marks at the same time? The surface here is built up of layers, and you can see how Botelho worked and reworked his image. Take a close look at the buildings in the foreground, see how the strokes of reds, pinks, and browns create a kind of faceted surface. These strokes do the work of describing the light, but they also bring a tactile quality to the surface of the painting. Like a lot of artists who were painting in the early twentieth century, I think Botelho was influenced by Cezanne. Both artists were interested in the way that the world is constructed from simple geometric forms. Ultimately, for both Botelho and Cezanne, art is an ongoing exploration, always questioning what it means to see and represent the world around us.