O Farol 1915

Anita Malfatti's "O Farol" is all about light and place, built with lively brushstrokes of yellow, green, and pink oil paint. Imagine Malfatti standing there, probably outside, squinting at this bright scene; starting with the horizon line, then building the lighthouse stroke by stroke, color by color. I bet she wasn't thinking about perfection but about capturing something of the scene's spirit – the rough textures and vivid colors. There’s a rawness and immediacy to how she’s laid down the paint; you can almost feel the wind and the sun. Malfatti was interested in the modernist movement, but it is her own way of seeing the landscape. It reminds me of the Fauvist movement, or maybe even some of those early expressionists, all trying to find a new language for feeling in paint. It's like a visual diary entry, capturing a fleeting moment. Painting is a form of embodied expression, a conversation between the artist, the world, and the possibilities of paint.