Ezechiel mesurant le temple 1973

Charles Lapicque painted this image of the prophet Ezekiel, using oil on canvas. Lapicque’s painting is awash in a sea of flat planes, each an island of pure color, roughly brushed. Note how he gives us a sense of the architectural scale using patches of brickwork, a motif that is repeated on the monumental figures, almost as though they are structures under construction. Then look at the figure carefully measuring the bricks with a length of measuring tape. We get a sense of the labor involved in the process, as if Ezekiel, from the Old Testament, is a builder measuring the temple. The architectural allusion, the texture of the paint itself, and the sheer labor involved in the creative process, all remind us of the craft and effort involved in making an artwork. This perspective helps to dismantle the artificial hierarchy between fine art and other forms of creative expression.