Sinfonia Azul (Maria) 1920

Antonio Carneiro made Sinfonia Azul, or Blue Symphony, with oil paint and what looks like a whole lot of feeling. There's a real dance between the light and shadow here, a push and pull that’s almost palpable. The blues aren't just blue; they’re mixed with grays, creams, and whites, creating a whole world within a single color. Look at how the light catches the figure’s face, it’s soft, like the memory of a touch, and then notice how it makes the painting almost glow. The brushstrokes feel immediate, like they're capturing a fleeting moment, yet they build to something lasting. I'm thinking of Whistler’s Nocturnes – that same moodiness, that love of atmosphere over detail. Ultimately, it’s this sense of transience mixed with the permanence of paint that really gets to me. Art, at its best, is just that: a beautiful, impossible contradiction.