The Survivors 1950

Desmond Morris made this painting called *The Survivors* using bold colors and simple shapes. It feels like a private world, dreamt up, maybe a little scary? I can imagine him stepping back, squinting, maybe even chuckling to himself as he paints. The colors are a bit raw, but with a certain charm. That banana-shaped creature in the middle, for instance – the paint is thin, like it was quickly glazed, but somehow it has this strange, almost mournful presence. It reminds me a little of Miró, or even some outsider art, where the rules are bent and broken, and pure imagination takes over. But Morris has his own thing going on here. Are they aliens? Are they prehistoric birds? Or something else? Painting is like that, though, isn’t it? An exchange of ideas, a big messy conversation across time. It’s a way of seeing, but also a way of thinking and feeling, all mixed up together. And the best paintings? They leave you with more questions than answers.