Caryatid 1913

Modigliani made this painting, Caryatid, which is about 90 by 70 cm, with oils, and I guess, it's all about the making. I love the way he's scraped and smeared the paint, like he's wrestling with the figure. See how the black paint on the left almost looks like charcoal or thick crayon? It's like he's drawing and painting at the same time. And the red... that red is like a scream, raw and urgent. There's a real physicality to this work. You can almost feel Modigliani's hand moving across the canvas, trying to capture something elusive. It's messy, kind of unresolved, but that's what makes it so alive. You might think of someone like Marlene Dumas, who also makes figurative paintings, in a way that embrace the unfinished. This painting isn't about perfection, it's about the struggle to see and to make.