Satan II 1925 - 1927

Here is your audio guide script: This is Georges Rouault’s ‘Satan II,’ and it's hard to pin down when exactly it was made or with what. Rouault’s marks are so loaded, aren't they? They have this weighty quality, like he's pushing the material around, wrestling with it. It’s like he’s saying, "Art is work, man!" I love how Rouault builds up his surfaces. There’s this real physicality to the medium. See how the grays aren’t just flat? They’re mottled, layered, like looking through smoke. And that face! It’s like he’s been chiseled out of stone, but with the raw energy of a sketch. Look closely at the eyes – they’re so intense, almost accusing. It’s like they're not just seeing, they’re judging. Rouault’s work makes me think of other artists like, maybe, Max Beckmann. It's all about wrestling with form and meaning. With art, the conversation never really ends, does it?