The Masque of the Red Death c. 1918

Charles Demuth made this watercolor, called The Masque of the Red Death, probably in the 1910s. Isn't it just so, so wild? It's this crazy scene with figures all jumbled up and layered, like a dream you can't quite make sense of. There's something about the way he uses the watercolor that feels both casual and deliberate. The paint is thin and translucent, but he builds up these washes of color to create depth and shadow. Look at the way the reds and oranges bleed into each other, and how the blues and purples create this eerie sense of atmosphere. Notice the mask on the left figure, and the pained expression on the face at the bottom - are these Demuth's reactions to the macabre Poe story, I wonder? The whole thing feels so immediate and spontaneous, like Demuth was just letting the paint flow and seeing what would happen. I see a reference to artists like Ensor, but the composition of the work, with the strange perspective and unsettling subject matter, feels pretty unique! Ultimately, the painting embodies a constant flux, and is open to multiple interpretations.