Great Matchmaker 2019

Michael Cheval's 'Great Matchmaker' is one of those paintings where you can't help but get lost in the looking. The way he handles the paint is really something, it's mostly opaque, but there's this luminescence to it. Look at the red of the dress against the green, it's like a dream within a dream. The texture is smooth, almost like velvet. You can see the artist's hand, but it's subtle, it gives the piece an amazing emotional depth. I love how Cheval sets up this whole tableau with a rider on horseback in the background. It reminds me a bit of Magritte, with the way he plays with reality and illusion. You look at this painting, and it's like he's inviting you to participate in a game, where the rules are always changing. In the end, art is never about having all the answers but about embracing the questions.