Orfeova Smrt 1937

Emil Filla made Orfeova Smrt, or the Death of Orpheus, using what looks like oil on canvas, and the canvas is crammed with these wild, gestural marks. It’s a dense, dramatic scene – the colour palette is earthy, but with these jolts of pale pinks and whites that scream out. Imagine Filla at work, wrestling with this composition, layering and scraping away at the paint to get these figures to emerge from the chaos. The whole painting feels like a build-up of trial and error. You feel for the artist. What was he thinking? Maybe something about Orpheus's music failing to tame human violence, or about the raw energy of expression itself. Look at those screaming faces, the contorted bodies, and how the thick paint makes it all so visceral. I am so glad that artists keep the conversation of painting alive, inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling.