La rentrée 1927

Anita Malfatti made 'La rentrée', with oil paint, showing an interior. The ochre palette envelops the figures in a warm, intimate, and contemplative atmosphere. I really get a sense that Malfatti wanted to capture a certain feeling, a mood, and that perhaps she even worked on it over time, layering and adjusting until she got it just right. She lets the ordinariness speak volumes. The woman in the green dress is probably getting ready to go out, there's a specialness, maybe she's thinking about who she's going to see. There is a figure sewing, the action of mending an object suggesting care and attention, and the physical act of repair seems so connected to the human experience. Malfatti's paintings were part of a wider conversation that was happening amongst artists at the time. They were challenging conventions and experimenting with new ways of seeing and representing the world. Ultimately, painting is like life—it is in a state of constant flux, full of possibilities, questions, and uncertainties.