La composizione TA 1916

Carlo Carra made this enigmatic painting, 'La composizione TA', with oil paint. The artist arranges architectural shapes, numbers, and lettering into a kind of stage set. The brushwork is smooth, and the color range is earthy: ochres and browns, blues and greens. I imagine Carra stepping back, squinting, shifting things around – like how I move elements in my paintings, always tweaking, nudging. I wonder what he was thinking, what the 'TA' refers to? Maybe it's a secret message or a kind of philosophical statement. The letters feel like stand-ins for something else, inviting interpretation without giving anything away. Carrà, like other artists, plays with perspective and perception. He makes us question what we see, and that's what keeps the conversation going, artist to artist, across time.