Crucifixion 1937

Georges Rouault made this 'Crucifixion' painting with, what looks like, oil paint. Rouault’s process feels raw, immediate. The strokes are so present; you get the sense that he’s not just painting a scene, but wrestling with the very act of creation. There's a real material conversation happening here, a dance between the artist, the paint, and the canvas. Look at the way he builds up those thick, dark lines around the figures, especially around Christ. They're almost like stained glass. The colors aren’t blended so much as layered, giving the whole scene this weighty, emotional depth. Those blues against the earthy reds and greens create this vibrating tension, like a bruise or a wound. You can see the influence of someone like Emil Nolde here, who was also interested in religious subject matter, and using color to convey intense spiritual feeling. Art, like life, is always an unfolding process, full of questions rather than answers.