Farm at La Petite Mare 1907

Francis Picabia's 'Farm at La Petite Mare' is a landscape conjured with oil on canvas. Look at how Picabia builds up the leaves of the big tree in the foreground with thick dabs of paint, like he’s constructing them piece by piece. The materiality of this work, the tangible sense of the paint itself, is so important. It's not just about representing a scene, but about the act of painting as a physical process. Check out the watery reflection in the foreground, so fluidly rendered, and how this contrasts with the dry staccato marks of the trees. Picabia, always restlessly experimenting, reminds me a little of someone like Philip Guston, who also veered between styles and was never afraid to reinvent himself. Art's an ongoing conversation, right? It's about embracing the unknown, the unresolved. There’s no one definitive answer, and that’s the beauty of it.