Temptation 1910

Othon Friesz, at some point in his career, made this oil painting, Temptation, full of blues, greens and fleshy nudes. Imagine the act of painting it: standing at the easel, Friesz would have applied thin layers of color and then scrubbed them back. I sympathize with Friesz here, the pressure to deliver a painting is intense! I imagine he was thinking, 'How can I make this scene feel both ancient and immediate?' Look at how the figures of Adam and Eve emerge from the verdant chaos, their bodies outlined with visible brushstrokes. The paint is thinly applied, almost translucent in places, allowing the canvas to breathe through. Then, there's the daring gesture of the snake, depicted as a blue figure lurking just behind Eve. This communicates a real sense of menace. Friesz was part of the Fauvist movement which favored intense color and simplified forms; you can see echoes of Cezanne in the way he uses planes of color to build form. Artists are in a constant dialogue. Friesz's painting is a testament to the endless possibilities of expression. We see, think, and experience the world, each in our own way.