Odysseus and Calypso 1943

Max Beckmann made this painting, Odysseus and Calypso, with oil on canvas. Just look at those figures emerging out of these bold blue and fleshy pink brushstrokes. I wonder what it was like for Beckmann in his studio, wrestling with this ancient tale, pushing the paint around, scraping it off, trying again. I imagine him thinking about Odysseus, lost and stuck on Calypso's island, longing for home. You can almost feel the weight of Odysseus’s weariness in the way he leans back. And Calypso, her gaze is complex. Is it seductive? Resigned? Those heavy outlines, the simplified forms—they give the scene a kind of raw, emotional punch. And the color, wow, these blues aren’t just blues, they’re like a mood, a feeling. I keep thinking about other painters, like Picasso, and how they grappled with myth and emotion. There's a conversation happening here across time and canvases. It's like they're all talking to each other, saying, "Hey, try this, what about that?" Painting is such an ongoing, imperfect, human endeavor.