Outre songe 1978

Léonor Fini painted "Outre songe" with oils on canvas. The way she's built up the colour in layers, one shade melting into the next, feels like time unfolding. It makes me think about how we construct realities in our minds. The texture is smooth, almost dreamlike, and the palette, muted like old photographs, enhances this effect. Look at the way the shadows play against the light, how they seem to dance behind that sheer curtain. It's like a stage set for a play that's never quite performed. See the figure in the foreground? The zipper detail transforms it from a person into a costume, a shell, raising questions about identity and performance. It's about revealing and concealing. It’s very theatrical, a bit like Balthus in its strangeness. But whereas Balthus is all about hidden desires, Fini, with this painting, seems to be all about the artifice of it all. She wants us to know we're watching a show, one that's forever open to interpretation.