Platz in Neapel 1961

Varlin’s “Platz in Neapel” is this gritty, grimy, gorgeous vision of a place, made with what looks like sludgy oil paint, probably applied with brushes but maybe also rags. I imagine Varlin standing in that square in Naples, squinting, trying to get the right balance of light and shadow, the weight of those buildings, the way the laundry hangs like banners, like announcements. Look at the way he’s built up the surface, thick in some places, thin in others, scratching into it, wiping it away. It's kind of melancholic, no? The palette is muted—greys, browns, whites—but then there are these pops of color: the red sign, the blue clothes on the line. That little green spire in the distance! It's like he’s saying, “Even in the midst of all this dreariness, there’s still beauty to be found.” That's what painters do. They rearrange the world, they build it up and tear it down, always in search of something new.