The Shell 1934

Eileen Agar made this painting of a figure with a shell, and you can see how the colours are earthy, soft browns and greens, with these striking blue accents. I imagine she was standing there in front of the canvas, thinking about form and how to abstract it, how to capture the essence of a figure holding this spiral form. What do you think she was feeling as she built this up? I imagine her building up the painting bit by bit, the forms emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I wonder if she ever felt frustrated with it. Notice the geometric shapes, the planes of colour which almost look like a cubist fragmentation. Then there’s that concentrated spiral of the shell, which really draws the eye. This contrast of forms, along with the earthy tones against these bright blues, creates an interesting tension, don't you think? All of these marks and gestures are part of the language that painters use, carrying on a conversation across time.