Portrait of Walter Lippman 

R.B. Kitaj's "Portrait of Walter Lippman" presents a constellation of figures and geometric forms rendered in oil, creating a visually arresting composition. The juxtaposition of vivid colours and fragmented imagery immediately invites a sense of dissonance, a disruption of conventional portraiture. Kitaj employs a pictorial language that verges on the semiotic; each element seems poised to signify something beyond its immediate appearance. The red grid-like structure, bisecting the canvas, hints at the fragmented nature of modern thought, reminiscent of structuralist grids that seek to dissect and categorize knowledge. The figures, rendered with bold outlines and stark contrasts, appear as though they've been extracted from different contexts. The dynamic interplay between abstraction and figuration challenges fixed meanings, reflecting post-structuralist ideas about the instability of language and representation. The composition resists a singular, unified reading, offering instead a space for multiple interpretations to emerge. This challenges us to consider how meaning is constructed through the relationships between disparate elements, rather than inherent qualities. Kitaj invites us to engage with the artwork as a site of ongoing inquiry, where the boundaries of representation are constantly being questioned and redefined.