Lion with lioness 1932

Antonio Ligabue painted this work, Lion with lioness, with oil on board and it’s like a memory of a dream. Ligabue fearlessly embraced his own way of seeing, using a palette that feels both sun-drenched and a little surreal. The surface is alive with visible brushstrokes; you can almost feel the energy of the artist's hand as he laid down each stroke. The way the paint is applied, in layers that blend and blur, gives the scene a hazy, dreamlike quality, as if we're peering through a heat shimmer at this pair of lions. I am drawn to the lion's mane, the way the brushstrokes radiate out, giving it this halo effect, like a burst of energy. Ligabue reminds me of Henri Rousseau, another artist who dared to paint his own version of the exotic, filling his canvases with a raw, untamed vision. Both invite us to lose ourselves in the act of painting, celebrating the power of art to transport us beyond the everyday.