Garden of Kama 1914

Byam Shaw made this painting, Garden of Kama, using rich colours and a tight composition. You can almost feel the artist wrestling with the story he wanted to tell. I wonder what Shaw was thinking as he built up the layers. The paint isn't splattered, it looks like he carefully considered where to place each brushstroke. See how he painted the figure's red dress? You can feel the weight of the fabric. What does it mean to create such detail? Shaw's painting, its figures and compositional approach, connect back through time to other history painters but the choices he made, his individual touch, transform the art of painting. We are all in conversation.