Ida Rubinstein and Vaslav Nijinsky in Scheherazade 1910

George Barbier made this print of Ida Rubinstein and Vaslav Nijinsky in Scheherazade by probably using stencils to build up blocks of colour. I just love the way this artist uses colour to create such drama. It's like, imagine being Barbier, right? You're trying to capture the energy of these dancers, their costumes, the whole vibe of Scheherazade, and you're doing it with these flat, bold colours. It's kind of like how I approach a canvas, I make a colour, then another, and another. I am always reacting to what came before it. I wonder what it was like for Barbier to chose those blocks of colour and then create drama with stark graphic shapes. Did he think that colour could give the viewer a way in? You can almost feel the music, the movement, and the sheer spectacle of the ballet through his mark-making and how the figures move from light to dark. The artist has a deep understanding of how a single mark communicates feeling. I think this is a conversation that goes on between painters across time. You react and add, the conversation goes on, there is no one clear answer and it always changes as you learn new things.