Cathedral of Pisa 1905

Olga Boznanska painted this Cathedral of Pisa, with what looks like pastel or chalk. There’s something about the way the building is rendered that really interests me. The structure is sturdy but the fuzzy texture of the chalk gives it a ghostly feel. The texture is key here. Boznanska doesn’t seem too concerned with a perfect likeness, but instead embraces the process of mark making. Look at the shadows, they’re dark and dense, created with short, deliberate strokes, there's a kind of urgency. But then, elsewhere, like on the dome of the cathedral, she uses a much lighter touch, almost as if she's caressing the surface. Think about Whistler’s Nocturnes, those hazy, dreamlike landscapes. Boznanska's work shares that same sense of atmosphere, but with a bit more grit, you know? It’s a conversation across time, a reminder that art is always in dialogue with itself. Anyway, that's my take, what do you think?