The Battle of Hastings 1962

Allen Jones made ‘The Battle of Hastings’ with paint on canvas, and it's a real trip. It feels like he started with a battlefield, but then, in true painterly fashion, got distracted, right? I can imagine Jones in his studio, laying down these earthy colors. He lets the forms emerge, figures, shapes, almost like he’s telling a story, but one that only painting knows how to tell. Look at how the creamy yellows and pinks almost smear into the brown of the canvas. Then there are these clean, hard-edged geometric shapes that give the piece a sense of depth and movement. Painting is like this ongoing conversation among artists across time. We riff off each other’s ideas, remixing history with our own experiences. For me, that’s what keeps painting alive—it’s always changing, always surprising.