Après le déluge 1949

Fernand Léger made this, Après le déluge, I imagine, with quick strokes and a watery paint. It’s a dance of lines and blocks of color. I wonder what Léger was thinking, was he thinking about the future after the trauma of World War II? The colors are hopeful, right? There’s a red sun, a green field, some blue blobs that could be puddles, or clouds. He's building up this strange, linear structure that feels kind of joyful. It's like he’s saying: 'Okay, we're starting over, but we're going to do it with a sense of play.' Then there's the face, right? Sort of staring out at us like, 'What do you think?' I feel like this piece is in conversation with Matisse and Picasso, who also reinvented their language for painting the figure. It's like they're all egging each other on, going, 'Hey, let's see how far we can push it!' And for me, that's what painting is all about. It's about pushing, and pulling, and seeing what happens when you let go of control.