Itanhaém 1949

Anita Malfatti made this painting, “Itanhaém”, and what hits you first is that bold palette, right? I love how she's not afraid to mix those bright hues with a kind of sun-drenched haze. And look at the way she builds up the layers. It's like she's wrestling with the paint to get the essence of the place down. Thick strokes, thin washes, all working together. There, see that roof in the foreground? The way she's layered those reds and browns, it's not just a roof, it’s a physical thing, catching the light. It's like she's saying, ‘this is real, this is here.’ I can almost feel a kinship between her and someone like Marsden Hartley, with that same directness and love of place, but she's doing her own thing, pushing those colours to a new level. For me, it’s all about that tension between control and letting go, which is, in the end, what painting is all about.