Ferro 1938

Candido Portinari made this painting, Ferro, with what looks like tempera or maybe distemper paint, judging from the chalky matt surface of the painting. This painting feels like a stage set, or a frieze, doesn't it? The figures are arranged a bit like classical sculpture, but the colours are so muted, the whole thing feels bleached out. The workers are depicted with a strange mixture of monumentality and exhaustion, their figures rendered in solid blocks of tone and colour. Look at how the light falls on the figure, centre left. Is it light, or is it white paint? It’s hard to tell, isn’t it? There is something of Leger to Portinari's work, both artists render human figures in a very architectural and solid manner, their paintings share a certain pared down aesthetic. But while Leger is cold, Portinari is somehow very human. Ultimately, art is about more questions than answers, about feeling more than seeing.