Abstraction c. 1932

Le Corbusier made this pastel drawing on paper, it's a tumble of objects, figures, and color, a real free-for-all. I love how the looseness of the pastel sticks lets the image come together in a kind of hazy, dreamlike way. It feels like the image is being discovered as it's made. There's a figure lounging up top, all in red, like a big, soft sculpture. And then your eye tumbles down to plates, bottles, and this great orange form at the bottom that could be food, or maybe another body? It’s this layering that I find interesting, the way the colors vibrate against each other, like that bright blue bottle bumping up against the muted greens and reds. It all feels very intuitive, like Corbusier was letting the materials lead the way. That single fork near the bottom, resting on a pale, ghostly form, is so great, like a tiny clue in a bigger mystery. You could compare it to Matisse's still lifes - they both have that joyful approach to color, and a similar interest in flattening space. But really, it’s just Le Corbusier, making his own kind of beautiful mess.