Cubist Composition 1918

This ‘Cubist Composition’ by María Blanchard, is a gathering of shapes rendered in oils. I imagine Blanchard in her studio, turning forms this way and that, trying to make them sit together on the canvas. Isn’t it funny how some paintings feel like puzzles? You get the sense that the artist is working through something, a bit like a sculptor might do, except she is using color and line to carve out her space. The ochres and browns are very grounded, but then you have these flashes of white. It feels like the objects are pushing against a dark background, but they are also pushing against each other. There’s such a great tension in the painting! It's as if Blanchard is in conversation with Picasso and Braque, but she’s got her own thing going on; a slightly different touch, a different kind of light. I think all painters are always talking to each other in this silent, visual language, don't you? Each artwork is a new sentence in a never-ending story.