Vase With Flowers and Fruit 2001

Aldemir Martins made this painting of a vase with flowers and fruit with oil on canvas. I'm really drawn to these direct, bright colours, like it was all about feeling and seeing, one after the other. You can see the shapes have been built up, through brushstrokes. I'm imagining Martins, starting out trying to get the form right, maybe getting stuck, but then letting go. Look at the vase itself. It has a red heart on it! That was a decision. The artist probably knew it would feel a little cheesy, but did it anyway. It reminds me a little of Matisse's paintings, but not really. This artist is doing their own thing. Painters are always borrowing from each other, across time, seeing what someone else did and figuring out how to make it their own. It makes you wonder what someone will make out of this painting, sometime in the future.