The Dance c. 1930s

Tom Lovell painted ‘The Dance,’ sometime in the twentieth century, probably with oils. The bravura brushwork and earthy palette are so present here; you get a sense of the artist really *being* there, lost in the making. And what marks! Look how the paint is scrubbed on, especially in the background. It's not trying to be anything but paint, yet it creates this amazing illusion of light and atmosphere. This tension between material and image is everything. The painting's surface is alive with texture – thick in some places, thin and washy in others – building the drama of the scene, and hinting at the intense passion of the flamenco. I find my eye keeps going back to the dancer's outstretched arm, almost daring us to watch! Lovell reminds me a little of early Manet, in the sense that he is using painterly techniques, but making something new of it. Art is a conversation, not a science, and there are no right answers, just new questions.