Figurgruppe. To nøgne kvinder. 1906 - 1909

Othon Friesz made this painting, Figurgruppe. To nøgne kvinder., using what looks like oil paint and brushstrokes that are confident, even bold. It's mostly blacks and grays, with a little bit of white peeking through. I can almost feel Friesz making this – the quick decisions, the way he must have wrestled with the figures, trying to get them just right, but not too right. You know? Like, he wants to capture something real, something raw. I imagine him thinking about Cezanne and the early modernists who rejected academicism. Look at the lines defining the bodies. Each one is like a little map of Friesz’s thought process. The paint looks thin, fluid. I bet he worked fast, not wanting to overthink it. There’s such a dialogue between intention and accident in this painting. It reminds me that every artist is part of a larger conversation, building on what came before, pushing back, and trying to find their own voice in the mix. It’s like a big, messy, beautiful party that never ends!