Armadillo 1968

This is a print called ‘Armadillo’ by Graham Sutherland. It's undated, but knowing Sutherland, who lived from 1903 to 1980, we can still get a feeling of the time. He's got this warm, earthy palette, and his marks seem almost exploratory. I get the sense he’s working it out as he goes along, like the process is as important as the image. There’s this striking contrast between the soft, watercolor-like washes of the background and the scratchy, wiry lines that define the armadillo. Those lines feel so physical, like you can almost feel the texture of the animal's shell. It's interesting how he isolates the armadillo in these little boxes, almost like specimens. It's as if he's trying to understand its nature through dissection. I’m reminded of the work of Francis Bacon in how Sutherland uses an economy of line to create something with real emotional impact. Both artists weren’t afraid of embracing ambiguity, leaving room for us, the viewers, to bring our own experiences to the table.