Prometheanist 1924

Jose Clemente Orozco’s Prometheanist is a big image in which we see large figures rendered with a grey-blue palette. It feels like it has come into being through layering of lines and form, a shifting, emerging process of trial, error, and intuition. I can imagine Orozco thinking hard about how to describe violence and struggle, perhaps not always knowing what the outcome of his making might be. I notice that in the areas of red – near the bottom of the artwork – the paint looks thinner, more like stains. Look at how the lines go from dark to light, making a feeling of volume, as if we can reach out and grab it. The diagonal lines, from the figure’s head down to the feet, cut through the painting, adding tension. I feel like it refers to earlier artists like Michelangelo and El Greco, where artists were trying to create a kind of psychological space through the drama of gesture. Orozco’s work has a strong sense of embodied expression, which embraces uncertainty. His piece invites multiple interpretations, reminding us that artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time.