The Mud Bath 1914

David Bomberg made "The Mud Bath" with paint and canvas. Bomberg wasn't into messing around. It's all about those big, bold, flat shapes doing their thing. No fussy details here! I'm thinking, this isn’t so much about depicting a mud bath as it is about capturing the sheer, messy energy of people in action, it's like the cubists meet the futurists at a rugby match. Check out the way he’s used those blocks of red, white, and blue, it is almost like he is trying to make something pop off the canvas. It’s like he’s carving out space with color alone, like he's a sculptor, but with a brush. It’s this raw, geometric language that really grabs you. You could say he was onto something ahead of his time, he reminds me a bit of Léger who was also thinking about how the human body fits into the modern world. And like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers, which is exactly how it should be!