Komposition 1931

Leo Leuppi’s “Komposition” is a painting where the colours are laid on so flatly, so carefully, that you almost get the feeling that the artist was building something, like a wall or a house. Look closely and you’ll see how each form is made of many tiny brushstrokes, and how the artist allows these strokes to show, the texture becoming an integral part of the composition. It’s like each little touch of paint is a decision, a choice made in the moment, building up into the whole. I'm really taken by the balance of sharp, geometric shapes with the more organic forms of the instruments. There’s an area with three dark lines on the guitar that are the strings, and they're so much darker than anything else. It makes me think of other early modernists like Braque, who were also trying to capture the essence of objects rather than just their appearance. I love how this work embraces the ambiguity and multiple interpretations inherent in art. It’s an ongoing conversation across time.