Untitled 1945

This untitled pastel on paper artwork was made in 1945 by Charles Lapicque, and you know, it's the kind of image that makes you wonder what was going through his head when he made it. Lapicque has used pinks, blues, and browns to create overlapping forms within a black outline. I love how the pastel is applied thinly in some areas and more thickly in others, creating a nice contrast. The rough texture of the pastel gives it a raw, immediate quality. It feels like he was just feeling his way through it, letting the image emerge slowly and intuitively. I can imagine him standing there, charcoal in hand, making bold, confident strokes, then stepping back, squinting, and adding a dab of color here and there to balance it all out. It reminds me of the work of other painters who were also exploring abstraction at this time, like Arshile Gorky. Ultimately, it's a reminder that painting is always an act of discovery, and that artists are constantly in conversation with one another, pushing the boundaries of what's possible.