Cavaquinho c. 1914 - 1915

Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso made this painting – Cavaquinho – with oil on canvas, and looking at those brushstrokes, I can almost feel him there in the studio. It's got this earthy palette – reds, greens, and browns – laid down with such confident strokes. The paint is thick. I'm thinking he’s really going for it. It's like he’s carving out the shapes and forms, not just painting them. Look at how the red outlines the guitar. It's bold and so sure. I wonder, was he listening to music while he was painting? Was he imagining the sounds of the Cavaquinho? Souza-Cardoso was part of the European avant-garde, hanging out with folks like Modigliani and Brancusi. You can feel that experimental vibe, right? How they were all pushing boundaries and reinventing what art could be. Painting is like a conversation that never ends. We look, respond, and then add our own mark.