Henrique VIII 1966

Menez made this portrait of Henry the Eighth with paint that almost looks like watercolor, it’s so fluid and drippy. What strikes me first is the way the colors puddle and bleed into each other. Like a memory, not quite solid. The color palette is weirdly delicate for a character who was famously robust and imposing. Look at the red area above his head - it's like a thought bubble about to burst. The painting’s surface is fairly thin, almost stained, in contrast to the subject’s reputation for excess. The way Menez handles paint, it's like he’s wrestling with history itself, trying to capture a ghost of a king. Artists like Francis Picabia come to mind. Like Menez, Picabia was a master of constantly reinventing his approach to painting, never sticking to one style or idea for too long. This piece reminds us that art is always a dialogue, an ongoing conversation across time and between artists.