A Boba 1916

Anita Malfatti painted this portrait, A Boba, with oil paint on canvas sometime in the early twentieth century. You can really see the brushwork here, especially in the background, where the paint looks applied in thick, impulsive strokes of blues and greens. It’s the kind of painting where you can feel the artist at work, building up the image layer by layer. Looking at the chair, the way the yellow paint is applied around the edges of each vertical support, it’s like Malfatti is outlining form with colour. There’s a rawness to it, a sense of immediacy that is really compelling. This isn’t about perfect representation; it’s about the energy of painting itself. She reminds me of Gabriele Münter, another artist who wasn't afraid to embrace the gestural and explore the emotional possibilities of paint. Malfatti invites us to see the world not as it is, but as it is felt.