Madwoman Witch -Head c. 1914

Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso made this painting called Madwoman Witch -Head, sometime before he died in 1918. The dark, green-black marks swoop around a pale, lemon-chartreuse face with these brilliant, staring blue eyes. I feel like he was trying to get at something, working fast, trying to nail down a vision. It reminds me of when I’m painting and layering up marks, wiping them away, turning the canvas, trying again. What was Souza-Cardoso thinking about the people he saw? He made so many paintings so fast, he was part of that whole early modernist thing. This painting makes me think about faces, about masks. The madwoman as a witch, someone with secret knowledge. Painting can be like that, like a spell. Like you can see what other people can’t. I bet he felt that. I know I do.