Station of the Cross No. 11: "Jesus is Nailed to the Cross" c. 1936

Geoffrey Holt made "Station of the Cross No. 11: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross," using watercolor, I think, on paper. The colors are earthy, like they came right out of the ground. You can feel the story unfolding through the marks, which are so direct and a little bit raw, like a punch in the gut. Look at the way Holt layers the colors to create the figures. The colors are washy and transparent, almost translucent, so the people look haunted and a little like ghosts. See the figure hammering the nail into Jesus’s hand. There is a blob of bright red on his sleeve, like a splash, and it makes you look closer. It’s terrifying, like the hammer came down on the canvas itself. Holt reminds me of Guston, only more sincere. Both artists find a way of taking the most difficult subject matter and making it almost childlike, and open to interpretation. Art isn’t just about answers; it’s about asking questions, right?