The Turmoil of Conflict (Joan of Arc series: IV) c. 1909 - 1913

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel made this piece, The Turmoil of Conflict, part of his Joan of Arc series, with oil on canvas. It’s not about capturing a likeness, it's about capturing a feeling. Just look at the surface, the way the figures are packed together. There's a real tension between detail and abstraction. Up close, each horseman is rendered with care, but from a distance, they dissolve into a sea of color and movement. I like the way he uses a limited palette, mostly muted blues, reds, and browns, with touches of brighter hues. It's a very physical kind of painting, you can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the canvas, building up layers of paint. Look at how the spears overlap, or the tiny flags on the horizon, each a discrete mark which when put together describe the overall chaos and complexity of battle. De Monvel reminds me of someone like Redon, in his ability to create dreamlike images from the depths of the imagination. Art’s not about answers. It’s about the questions we ask, the spaces we open up.