Tango 1909

Frantisek Kupka’s “Tango”, probably made with pastel, is a little square of pulsating energy, a world of pure sensation rendered through color. Look how the marks build up, layer upon layer, scumbling into the surface. It’s all process here, the making laid bare. The oranges and reds fight with the blues and purples, a chromatic push-and-pull that vibrates across the surface. Check out the way he renders the arm, a bold slash of orange outlined in red, like a flame flickering in the dark. Kupka isn't trying to give us a photograph of a tango; he's trying to give us the feeling of it, the heat, the passion, the electric charge that zings between two dancers. Kupka, like his contemporary Kandinsky, was interested in the spiritual dimension of abstraction, and you see that here. You could also compare this work to the Fauvist paintings of someone like Matisse, sharing their vibrant colors and loose, gestural brushwork. "Tango" reminds us that art is always a conversation, an ongoing dance between artists across time.