Dolorosa 1929

José Garnelo made this painting, Dolorosa, using oils to capture a world of emotion. Imagine the studio, perhaps dimly lit, as Garnelo works, building up layers of paint, almost sculpting with the brush, letting the image emerge slowly. I wonder, what was Garnelo thinking as he painted? Maybe about the weight of grief, the texture of despair. I imagine the brushstrokes as silent cries, each dab and swirl a moment of intense feeling. Look at the way he has rendered her face, the soft yellow hues, the way the light catches her skin, and notice how the dark browns are thick with texture and depth. Artists are always talking to one another, across time and space. I am reminded of other paintings of a similar subject by different artists, and the way it's possible to embrace the ambiguity in a work that allows us to feel a connection through the artist's own embodied expression.