Small house with a red roof 1911

Curator: At first glance, I’d describe this as brooding. The earth tones dominate the composition in a rather unsettling way. Editor: We’re looking at Tadeusz Makowski’s “Small house with a red roof,” an oil painting dating back to 1911. He worked and exhibited alongside Picasso and Braque for some time, before moving away from Cubism. It is post-impressionist landscape art with obvious abstractions. Curator: Absolutely. It is almost nightmarish how the geometric forms seem both to assemble and dissolve. The heavy application of oil paint adds another layer to the viewing experience, offering both texture and depth to the structure and what surrounds it. What do you see in those roughly hewn shapes, reminiscent of dwellings, in this landscape, though? Editor: Well, houses have always been more than just brick and mortar. As shelters, they also represent familial ties, safety, even something deeper. Red, the colour of the roof, also symbolizes a sense of passion and, when contrasted against a background such as this, potential danger. Makowski seems to be inviting us to question domestic tranquility. Curator: I think that is an important reading. There is a tension in the construction. Are they being built, or are they falling apart? Are those houses safe, or confining? Consider how even the textures he's used; heavy, loaded strokes. Editor: Which gets back to the materiality, right? This wasn’t casually dashed off; this work was physically made through strenuous labor to create the art. He left visible brushstrokes to record an engagement with labor, the making, the substance of life in early 20th century Europe, as much as any feeling of uneasiness. And that intense red you mentioned may not be some beacon, but simply the pigment easiest to procure. Curator: Possibly both at the same time! After all, these images take on symbolic value precisely because of that material connection to their history. A symbol grounded in practical choices of production can gain depth through interpretation of material practice. Editor: True. A good reminder not to let ourselves drift too far into abstraction while experiencing it, especially if you ask me. Thanks to these elements and textures, the house achieves an imposing emotional presence. Curator: Indeed. Something so seemingly commonplace elevated to profound effect.