Still Life with Tiger 1915

Natalia Goncharova’s Still Life with Tiger, now in Cologne's Ludwig Museum, is ablaze with reds, oranges and yellows, applied with bold brushstrokes that build up an image, or rather, a collection of images. I imagine Goncharova working quickly, maybe even a bit recklessly, as she layers these different scenes and motifs: the tiger itself, the classical figures, the samurai warrior. She's unafraid to let the paint be itself, thick and juicy in some places, almost transparent in others. The way she handles the paint, it’s like she is building a stage set out of pure colour and texture. Look at the slash of black that defines the tiger’s stripes, and the way those stripes seem to vibrate against the red ground, or how the classical figures seem to emerge from a golden dream. Goncharova is speaking to us in a language that's ancient and modern all at once. It reminds me of Picasso, and his restless urge to take painting apart and put it back together again. It makes me want to grab a brush and dive into my own world of color and form.