Head 1918

Auguste Herbin made this painting, Head, with oil on canvas. I love the shapes and colours he's chosen - they seem so considered. Look at the pink rectangle in the centre: is it a face? Is it a wall? It’s ambiguous, and I like that! For me, art making is a process of layering, of building something up from smaller pieces, and I wonder whether Herbin worked in this way too. The paint here is mostly opaque, sitting on the surface, creating a kind of dialogue between flatness and depth. It’s like the image is trying to fold in on itself! There are these intriguing details, like the stippled pattern on the right, or the brickwork effect behind. The colours here are bold and flat and seem so different to the more naturalistic colours in his earlier Fauvist work. There’s something about the way Herbin lets the image remain unresolved that feels very contemporary. It reminds me of the work of someone like Juan Gris, or Picasso, but maybe with a more playful approach. For me, art is always a conversation, and this painting is a brilliant contribution.