Il Marinaio Francese 1930

Filippo De Pisis made this portrait of a French Sailor, probably with oil on canvas, in the 1930s. The first thing that strikes me is the color—that turquoise ground—it’s so evocative, like a dream of the sea, and then there are these gestures of hands and objects floating around him. I can just imagine De Pisis in his studio, layering the paint, letting the image emerge slowly, step by step, with trial and error, not knowing exactly what the end result would be. He seems to be asking: how can a painting capture something real without actually imitating it? And how do we find the balance between what we see and what we feel? Like Giorgio De Chirico, he creates his own personal vocabulary that moves us in unexpected ways. All these painters, they're in conversation with each other, and with us, across time. And that’s why painting is so cool, right?