Figure rose 1937

Jean Helion made this painting, "Figure rose" using what looks like oils, and a pretty subdued palette— lots of browns, greens, and grays. I imagine Helion in his studio, puzzling over how to turn a figure into something that feels both solid and strange. Like he is trying to work out a 3D puzzle but he can't see all the sides of the pieces. See how he breaks down the form into geometric shapes, almost like a Cubist sculpture, but then softens it with these subtle, fleshy tones. That cylinder jutting out where a neck should be—is it cold or warm, rigid or soft? I feel as though he’s inviting us to reconstruct our own perception of the figure through color and shape. He's asking: what is our body anyway, but a series of volumes and masses assembled together? Painters are always in conversation, echoing and riffing off each other’s ideas. With this, Helion builds on the innovations of Picasso and Braque to ask his own very good questions.