Deux femmes debout (au tronc d'arbre) 1943

Le Corbusier made this painting, Deux femmes debout (au tronc d'arbre), with some kind of oil stick or crayon -- you can see the crayon-y texture. The colours are muted and chalky, kind of floating there. It’s like he’s trying to find these figures, building them up, knocking them down, searching for the right configuration. I feel like I'm watching him work, seeing the ghosts of former decisions. I wonder, what was he thinking? Was he channeling Picasso here, or Leger? That red shape is so awkward, yet so insistent. I love the weird yellow, fuzzy, scrubbed-in texture next to it. Artists, we're all stealing from each other, am I right? It’s an ongoing conversation across time. This painting shows us how one artist grapples with form, meaning, and the legacy of his peers. He accepts the ambiguity of painting, all those multiple interpretations that keep it alive.