L'Isthme de Corinthe 1928

Jean Metzinger made "L'Isthme de Corinthe," and it looks like he built it from the ground up with layers of oil paint. There's something about the architectural forms, the geometry, that makes me think of space and movement. It's not just a flat picture, it's like a puzzle where you can imagine sliding the pieces around. I imagine Metzinger, maybe with a cigarette dangling from his lips, stepping back, squinting, adding another block of color. What was he thinking as he built up these geometric forms? The weight of the oil paint gives the work a tangible, almost sculptural quality. It reminds me a bit of Leger and Gris, all those cats playing with shapes, but here it is a bit stranger. It's like he's channeling some ancient world through a machine. Each painter, from Metzinger to Leger to you and me, we're all just trying to figure it out, one brushstroke at a time, continuing the never-ending conversation.