Sur La Terrasse 1945

André Lhote, whoever he was, made this painting called 'Sur La Terrasse' with oil on canvas. I can see these different planes of color, butted up against each other, and these hard edges of color planes are creating the drawing, while the different flat colors create an incredible sense of space. Just look at the dark and light greens, the blues and yellows, and that peach! I imagine Lhote building up the image step by step, color by color, probably adjusting the composition as he went. I see a little bit of Léger, or maybe Juan Gris, but I see other stuff too. It’s a beautiful painting, and it also seems kind of stubborn. I keep thinking about the red stripes, how they are pushing up against the lilac shape! Painters are in constant conversation with one another, aren’t they? They keep inspiring each other, like echoes across time. Painting is such an embodied expression, so full of uncertainty, and yet so suggestive.