The Sentinel 1976

Desmond Morris painted 'The Sentinel' with what looks like oil on canvas, though who really knows, artists are strange creatures! The creamy palette is almost fleshy, and there's a real sense of the body, even if it's not quite a body as we know it. The paint seems built up in layers, especially in the pearly shapes on top of the green structure. Look at the texture there - thick and almost sculptural, like the paint wants to jump right off the canvas. It's as if Morris was less interested in depicting something and more in the act of creating it. This piece really reminds me of some of Yves Tanguy’s paintings. Both of them are tapping into the subconscious, creating these weird, dreamlike landscapes. It’s like they’re saying, "Here's a world that maybe only exists in your head," and that's what makes art so endlessly fascinating.