La Mise au tombeau 1949

Alfred Manessier made this print, La Mise au tombeau, with lithography, and it's all about layering and seeing what happens when colours meet. The main thing you notice are these deep, dark blues cutting across a field of black, a contrast that makes me think of stained glass, maybe even a stained-glass window that's been shattered, reformed, and lit up from behind. It's like Manessier is using the colour to build space, not just describe it. Imagine him, pulling that squeegee across the surface again and again, each layer adding to the depth and complexity. I bet he was looking at folks like Rouault and the German Expressionists – those guys knew how to use colour to punch you right in the gut. And in that spirit, this piece feels less like a statement and more like a question, something that stays open, uncertain. Which is what makes art so great, right?