Il Fanciullo Prodigio 1914

Carlo Carra made this painting, Il Fanciullo Prodigio, and you can see the surface is built up layer upon layer of color, with some areas that feel more worked than others. I can only imagine what it was like for Carra to create this painting. What was he thinking when he made it? This child prodigy in his little tuxedo, almost swallowed by the largeness of his jacket. The trumpet has such presence. And then, the red verticals cutting through! Was he making a statement about performance, expectations, and the constraints of being a ‘prodigy’? I feel like Carra is playing with the flatness of the surface and also our sense of perspective. Painters are in ongoing conversations, across time, inspiring one another's creativity. And it feels as though painting embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.