African Night Market 1965

Walter Battiss painted this 'African Night Market' with what looks like acrylic on board. I love the way this picture seems to have appeared, bit by bit, like a memory surfacing, and it makes me think about the ways in which a painting can become a place of discovery. I can imagine Battiss in the studio, trying to bring a feeling of being in an African market to life. He’s laid down these figures in blue, so they are both there and not there, and behind them, the sky turns into a hot, vibrating mirage, with touches of red, yellow, and orange. Below, the fruit is piled high on the table, rendered in short strokes of paint. It’s all so intuitive! Painters are always talking to one another across time. Battiss’ use of colour reminds me of Matisse's 'The Dessert: Harmony in Red'. It's like Battiss took that idea and ran with it, bringing his own lived experience into the mix. He really lets the ambiguity hang in the air, doesn’t he?