The four Pierrots 1912

Albert Bloch made The Four Pierrots with paint, and I'm guessing oil, since the way it's blended gives that slow-drying feeling. You can really see the brushstrokes, nothing is overworked, the colours are simple, and the forms are not clearly defined. Looking at this painting, what strikes me is how the artist handles the materiality of paint. The canvas isn’t trying to trick you, it's almost like it’s winking at you to let you know it’s a painting. I love the squatting figure at the front, how it’s all just tones, the blue bleeding into brown and grey. It's an image of bodies, but also an image of paint. The composition feels very reminiscent of Paula Modersohn-Becker, whose figures also had a very solid presence, and a similar feeling of melancholy. It's just paint, but it evokes so much. It’s a painting that is open to many interpretations, but there is no single right answer.