The Pleasure of Being Alone 1939

Julio De Diego made this print, 'The Pleasure of Being Alone', using lithographic crayon on paper. I love the simplicity of the monochrome, and the way he's built up layers of tone to create the image, like he's feeling his way through it. The surface has this incredible granular texture; you can almost feel the grit of the crayon on the paper. Look at the broken head and the soft shading there which makes it feel weighty and solid, a real presence. Then there's the lightness of touch in the figure of the man drying himself, it's like two different worlds co-existing. It reminds me a little of Giorgio de Chirico with it's strange, dreamlike atmosphere, yet De Diego brings his own unique sensibility to this work. For me, art is always about this conversation, between artists, between ideas, and between ourselves and the artwork. And, of course, it’s about the pleasure of being alone with it!