Carmen - 'Carmen and José' 1910

Byam Shaw’s ‘Carmen and José’ captures a moment in watercolor where everything seems to shimmer with emotional intensity. You can almost feel Shaw working spontaneously, laying down washes of color to build up these figures in a flickering dance of light and shadow. I imagine Byam Shaw, his eyes fixed on the scene, trying to capture the drama with each brushstroke. The opulence of the colors, the gold of the uniform, the deep reds of the flowers and pants, the vibrant shawl of the figure who may be Carmen...all collide with a sense of urgency. There’s a theatricality to the whole scene, like the beginning of a song. There's something about the energy in this painting that feels very contemporary to me. Byam Shaw engages with storytelling in ways we see echoed in the works of other artists, from the Pre-Raphaelites to illustrators, all speaking to each other across time. Ultimately, it's this conversation between artists that keeps the spirit of painting alive.