Le nu au cirque 1980

Here's a juicy watercolor and gouache artwork by Marc Chagall called *Le nu au cirque*, or *Nude at the Circus*. Doesn't it seem like the image came into being by chance? Look at how the faces appear and dissolve in the saturated colors, as if the circus performers and their audience arose from the paint itself. It’s as though the work was less about depicting a circus scene and more about creating a feeling. It reminds me of the way dreams form, shifting and swirling through trial, error, and intuition. I bet Chagall wasn’t thinking too hard when he made it, but rather letting his subconscious direct the brush. The paint is thin, allowing the white of the page to shine through. I particularly love the horse, how its neck seems to fade into the golden ground. I can imagine him trying to distill the sensation of being at the circus. Painters are in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another's creativity. What will you make today?