As duas Igrejas (Itanhaém) 1940

Anita Malfatti made this beautiful painting of Itanhaém, with what looks like thin layers of oil paint, and a sunny palette of yellow, green and blue. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. I really get the sense here that painting, for Malfatti, was a process of feeling her way through the world. There's something very material about the way she's captured the landscape. Look at the way she uses thin washes of colour, allowing the texture of the surface to come through. And the way she layers the paint, building up the forms of the buildings and the trees with these delicate, broken strokes. Look at the way the figure of the man carrying a load of sticks on his back anchors the foreground. It's not just a detail, but a way of drawing us into the painting and inviting us to experience the weight and the physicality of the scene. It makes me think of the paintings of Edward Munch, another artist who isn't afraid to let his emotions show on the canvas. Ultimately, art is an ongoing conversation, full of ambiguity and multiple interpretations.