At Fresh Air Nude c. 1914

Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso painted this nude in oils, and right away you notice the energy of his brushstrokes, thick and juicy. I love how the paint is so present, it’s like the act of painting is right there on the canvas, you know? The whole thing feels immediate, and like the artist was really feeling his way through the painting. Look at the way he’s built up the body with these chunky strokes, almost like he’s sculpting with paint. The texture is so rich, you can practically feel it. And that dark green background, it's almost oppressive, but it makes the pale flesh of the nude pop. The blobby strokes of the leg are so evocative. You can feel the artist's hand moving across the canvas, pushing and pulling the paint around. It's like he's not just representing a nude, but he's also showing us the process of making a painting, this is where the painting really gets going for me. It reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was also working with a similar kind of earthy, expressive figuration around the same time. Art, you know, it’s an ongoing conversation!