La rencontre 1936

Jacques Hérold made this oil painting called "La rencontre" – The Encounter – sometime in the 20th century. Looking at it, I imagine him building up the surface, layer upon layer, conjuring these ambiguous, biomorphic forms out of thin air. The palette is mostly warm—reds, oranges, browns—set against a cool blue sky. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the canvas, coaxing these strange figures into being. The forms are evocative of bodies, plants, and something else entirely; the artist has blended these forms together. It's a surrealist dance of color and shape, pushing and pulling at the edges of recognition. I get the sense that Hérold was in conversation with artists like Yves Tanguy and Joan Miró, each exploring their own inner landscapes, and using the language of abstraction to find new ways of seeing and feeling. This act of painting is an act of discovery, a journey into the unknown.