Where the Railroad Leaves the Sea 1964

R. B. Kitaj made "Where the Railroad Leaves the Sea" using paint to create something that feels both intimate and strangely distant. The surface has this raw, almost unfinished quality, like a sketch that decided to stick around. Kitaj's colours are bold and not trying to be realistic, and it's this directness that grabs me. Look at the way the pink of the jacket almost clashes with the yellow skin - it creates a tension. You can see the physicality of the paint in how the layers build up. Take a look at the black lines of the architecture and figures. Kitaj outlines them but doesn't quite fill them in. It’s a really odd composition, and these figures feel like they’re pressed up against you, as if you were there, maybe spying on them! Kitaj reminds me a little bit of Philip Guston, another artist who wasn't afraid to let his work get weird and personal. Art isn't about answers, it's about keeping the conversation going.