Green Still Life with Lamp 1917

María Blanchard’s ‘Green Still Life with Lamp’ is rendered in shades of grey, black, and green with a touch of pale blue. Imagine her in the studio, pushing the paint around, step-by-step, as the painting emerges. I can see her, brush in hand, deciding where to place each tone to give form to the objects. Each facet is like a thought, carefully placed within the composition. I wonder if she felt the same kind of struggle and pleasure in her work that I do in mine. Did she, too, make a mess, only to find a new direction within it? Look at the dots and tiny strokes - they soften the angular shapes into an intimate experience of the everyday. There’s a conversation happening with Picasso and Braque, a Cubist language being spoken with her own distinct accent. Painters always learn from each other, remixing ideas and aesthetics across time. Ultimately, painting is about embracing the unknown, trusting the process, and letting the work reveal itself, layer by layer, gesture by gesture.