L’artiste et le nu 1978

Marc Chagall made ‘L’artiste et le nu’ using oil paint to create this dreamlike vision. He’s so good at painting feelings, and his colours - mainly blues here - make me feel like I’m floating in a calm, quiet ocean. Look at the way the paint is applied, it’s thick and juicy, almost like he’s sculpting with it. This gives the painting a lovely, tactile quality. The brushstrokes are visible, like little waves, which makes me think of him standing there, his hand moving across the canvas, layering colors, and building up the image. The palette of bright colours down at the bottom is like a burst of joy, contrasting with the cool blues and hinting at the possibilities within the artwork. It’s like the painting is not just a picture, but also a record of how he made it. This idea reminds me a little of Matisse, who was also interested in how the process of painting could become the subject of the work. In art, it’s all about the conversation.