The Madwoman 1905

Giacomo Balla made *The Madwoman* with oil on canvas, and the way he builds up the image feels so process-oriented, like he’s thinking through paint. Up close, the surface is a thick impasto, built from these incredible dabs of color; blues and yellows, pinks and oranges, all buzzing together, making it feel both chaotic and harmonious. The colour is laid on with this loose energy that gives the whole painting this incredible luminosity. Check out the door, the way he lets the paint layer up, scumbling and building, the way he creates this sense of depth and texture. It is almost like he’s scratching and itching to get at the feeling of the subject. Balla was interested in depicting movement and energy in his Futurist works, and there’s that same intensity in this painting. I can't help but see echoes of Van Gogh here, in the way that he seems to use the brushstroke to embody an emotional state. What do you see?