The Pie-Faced Squilk and Her Pink-Nosed Neighbor c. 1922

Edward Steichen made this painting, "The Pie-Faced Squilk and Her Pink-Nosed Neighbor," with I'm guessing paint and maybe paper, and who knows when? The way the colors sit flat, bumping up against each other, feels like a game. It’s like Steichen set out to make a world with just a few shapes and shades. The paint isn't trying to trick you into seeing something real. It's more interested in being itself, thick in some spots, a little see-through in others. I keep coming back to that pink triangle, the nose. It's not just a shape; it’s the eye, the focal point. And the flat purple triangle sitting on top of the blue rectangle is amazing. It's like a little architectural joke, like a building block, and reminds me of the work of Stuart Davis. This piece is a reminder that art can be serious play, and maybe play is serious, too.