Portrait of André Salmon 1942

Marie Laurencin daubed this portrait of André Salmon with oils, and you can imagine her squinting, getting the planes of his face just so, thinking about the cool greens of the background against the darks of his hair. It looks like she really built up the surface, maybe layer upon layer, especially in the suit and bowtie. I wonder if she had a hard time with the face, those fleshy pinks around the lips are so subtle, almost like she was trying to capture a fleeting expression. Those eyes are so intense, and the way she's simplified his features – it makes me think of other painters, like Alice Neel, who weren't afraid to get real with their portraits, you know? Painters, we’re all just trying to figure things out, wrestling with form and feeling. We're in conversation, even across time, borrowing and riffing and pushing each other forward. It’s like, we leave breadcrumbs for each other in paint.