Combat 1927

Jose Clemente Orozco made "Combat," an oil on canvas, and you can see how the making of this piece was probably quite physical for him. The earth tones, raw umbers and ochres, along with that sky blue, seem to be fighting each other. Look at the impasto, you can see the peaks and valleys, especially in the highlighted areas of the figures’ bodies. It’s almost like the paint itself is wrestling on the canvas. See the way the figures are piled up, a jumble of limbs and torsos? The artist's emotional experience is written into the artwork itself. The dark strokes could be read as an arm or as a shadow, but I think it's meant to be both. Thinking about other artists, the intensity and drama remind me of Goya, but with a modern, almost abstract, sensibility. Ultimately, "Combat" shows us that art isn't about easy answers; it’s about the questions we ask and the spaces we create for ourselves.