Stillleben mit blauer Flasche und gerupftem Huhn 1910

This still life with a blue bottle and plucked chicken was painted by James Ensor, and it looks to me like he was really laying it on thick with the paint. The colours in this painting, they’re not exactly singing, are they? I mean, it's not a joyous party, but there's something about the moodiness that really pulls you in. Look at the surface, how he's built up these layers, creating texture that almost makes you want to reach out and touch it. And the brushwork—you can practically see the energy of his hand as he’s smearing and daubing the paint. That blue bottle, sitting there like a silent witness. There is something about the way it dominates the composition, like a big full stop that gives you pause. Ensor’s got this way of making you feel like you're in on some kind of secret. Think about Philip Guston, who also embraced that kind of free painting later on. It’s like they're both saying, "Hey, it's okay to get messy, to be human."