Thaïs Talizky 1916

Enrico Prampolini made this poster, "Thaïs Talizky," for Novissima Film in Roma, and you just know he loved the possibilities of flat colour. It’s got this striking figure lounging in a chair, right? You can tell that he's thinking through a few things here: How to convey volume using flat colour. It’s all about shapes bumping up against each other. It feels as if Prampolini is playing around with colour, line, and form, testing their limits and seeing how far he can push them while still creating a coherent image. There's that red triangle-patterned dress, those cartoon white gloves, and the dark eyes of the model - so bold that all the forms are really graphic, almost screaming off the surface. It’s like the colour is creating the feeling, and I'd bet that Prampolini wanted to evoke a sense of modernism and dynamism, reflecting the Futurist movement he was a part of. It reminds me a little of Picabia, a fellow traveler. The work of these artists speaks to the power of painting to capture a moment, an idea, or a feeling, and then send it hurtling into the future.