The kneeling woman 1934

Fernand Léger made this painting of a kneeling woman, in 1934. Look at the way he applies paint, building up these big, simplified forms with outlines. It's like he's saying, "Here's the basic structure, now let's see what happens!" There's something raw and immediate about the way the paint is applied. Thick and thin, transparent and opaque, all mixing together. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the canvas, deciding where to add a little more here, a little less there. Take a look at the black outline, how it contains and defines the yellow and orange of the knee. It’s like a graphic cartoon. Léger’s work reminds me of Picasso in the way that he reduced the figure down to geometric forms. But also Philip Guston, for that boldness, that almost clumsy way of working. For me, art is like a big conversation across time, and Léger's right in the middle of it all.