Nature Morte Cubiste 1917

María Blanchard made this painting, Nature Morte Cubiste, with oils, and I imagine she was really going for it. I see her building up these object forms with distinct planes of colour, pushing and pulling at the composition, probably rethinking it as she went along. The painting has this incredible mix of dark, blocky shapes offset by these soft, curved forms in orange and pale pink. They give the composition a really dynamic feel. And what's interesting is the way she teases out the idea of volume and space using such simple shapes. That jagged black edge meeting the soft blue is really nice. I imagine Blanchard, like many painters, had an ongoing conversation with the Cubist painters around her. We’re all just tossing ideas around, riffing off each other, seeing where we can take things. I love that back and forth. Painting isn’t about answers; it’s about the questions you ask, and the space you create for others to ask their own.