Leaping Children 1968

Charles Blackman made this painting, Leaping Children, with oil paint on canvas. It’s a diptych, a painting in two parts, dominated by shades of green and blue, with pops of red, yellow, and tan. The brushstrokes are loose and expressive, and I imagine Blackman attacking the canvas with gusto. Looking at those figures in motion, I wonder what Blackman was thinking. Perhaps he was trying to capture the fleeting joy of childhood, or maybe he was exploring the complex relationships between individuals. See how the children reach for each other, limbs outstretched, caught in moments of suspension? There’s an inherent awkwardness in the bodies that feels so true to life. Blackman's style reminds me of other painters like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also found ways of representing figures in their own space. Painters are always looking at each other's work, building on what came before, riffing on each other's ideas, and creating a visual conversation across time. It's all about an embodied expression, inviting us to see the world in new and unexpected ways.