The Surrender of Barcelona 1937

Wyndham Lewis painted this scene with oils, but when is anyone's guess! The brown and yellow towers loom, built from confident lines, they're almost characters in a play. I can imagine Lewis wrestling with it. He'd have been thinking hard as he built this pictorial city, each stroke a choice, a correction, a step forward. Those armored soldiers, with their gleaming helmets – it’s like they are trapped in a comic book, standing at attention with dull swords. It's heavy, right? Like he's saying something about the weight of history or something. The textures are fascinating too, aren't they? See how some areas are smooth, while others are built up with thick, textured paint? That variation gives it a real physical presence. It's not just a picture; it's an object. It reminds me of some early cubist paintings, but with Lewis' own sort of blunt take on things. It makes me think that artists like Lewis are always talking to each other, even across time, challenging and inspiring each other to see the world in new ways.