Mom's Cathedral 1951

Philip Evergood made *Mom’s Cathedral* with oil on canvas and a very personal kind of colour. It’s not naturalistic, not realistic, more of a psychological space that's evoked. You can see the artist felt free to adjust the colour to fit the feeling of the scene. That's what I love about artmaking, it's a process of responding to the emerging image, of not knowing what something will look like when it's finished. The painting is built up from layers of marks. Take the figure in the foreground, she's down on all fours and cleaning. It looks like Evergood worked wet into wet, blending colours together, greys and browns that make her look exhausted. Everything is smeared around her, creating a sense of movement and energy that builds into the drama of the piece. You can even see how her dark uniform contrasts with the colourful revellers in the background. Evergood makes me think of Chaim Soutine, another painter who wasn't afraid to be raw and emotional, but it is Evergood's own, very idiosyncratic vision. It is a beautiful painting. It is full of multiple interpretations.