Judgment of Paris 1942

Carlos Quizpez Asín made this Judgment of Paris, date unknown, probably with oil or tempera on canvas. The cool, restrained palette makes it feel like a classical frieze, but with something more modern, like a fresco. I love how the surface is quite dry, and the figures are almost camouflaged into the background. Nothing leaps out. The bodies are softly modeled with subtle gradations, but everything is quite flat – which gives it this great tension between figuration and abstraction. The artist uses the paint in a way that feels very deliberate, almost tentative, like he's trying to find the forms within the material. It reminds me a bit of early Picasso, with that same kind of understated elegance and formal experimentation. But Quizpez Asín brings his own sensibility to the subject, creating a painting that feels both timeless and very much of its time. Art's all about conversation, right?