Svarta Diana 1929

Nils Dardel made this painting, Svarta Diana, and look at how he teases the eye with his playful layering of flat forms. It's as if the whole menagerie has been cut out and pasted down, one thing after another. Notice the way the light watercolour washes create subtle variations in tone across the animal's skin. The elephant, for instance, is built up from overlapping strokes of diluted blues and greys, giving the impression of both its massive weight and surprising gentleness. And it is as though Dardel allows the white of the paper to show through, making the whole scene feel vibrant. I'm particularly drawn to the giraffe, such a curious creature. It's been painted with such precision – each spot carefully placed, the long neck elegantly arched. There's a similar meticulousness in the way Aubrey Beardsley drew figures. They both invite us to lose ourselves in the delicate details of a world that is both real and imagined.