Santos Retablos 1936

Maude Valle made this retablo painting, with its figure of Christ on the cross, sometime in the 20th century. Look at that ground of olive and ochre, punctuated with falling commas of red – what kind of space does that make? I imagine Valle, brush in hand, building up the scene, with the image emerging stroke by stroke. It's like the painting came to life, slowly finding its form through her intuition and constant adjustments. She painted those dark, thorny edges that frame everything, the potted plants that give it a feeling of formal symmetry. Maybe she was thinking about the history of religious painting, or maybe she was just trying to capture a feeling. I love the way the paint is applied so thinly, almost like a watercolor, allowing the surface to breathe and adding to the work’s delicate and heartfelt expression. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time, riffing off one another’s ideas and images. And it’s like this painting embodies that ongoing dialogue, inviting us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the mix.