Danses D'Okesa. Sado, Japon 1952

Paul Jacoulet made 'Danses D'Okesa. Sado, Japon' with printmaking, and you can really see how that process led to a certain kind of thinking. The colors feel flat, like distinct layers, but that gives the piece a real graphic punch. I mean, look at the costumes, the sharp blues and purples. It's like the image is built up from blocks of color, each perfectly aligned to make these dancers pop. It makes me think about how Jacoulet probably spent a lot of time planning each layer, each color, each shape. The way he uses these flat colors and distinct outlines makes the image feel both decorative and deeply human, like a conversation between design and emotion. It reminds me a little of Matisse's paper cut-outs, but with a distinctly Japanese sensibility. There’s a sense of ambiguity here, a feeling that meaning is multiple and shifting, not something fixed or easily grasped.