Picasso’s 'On the Beach' (1937) is such a fascinating look into his headspace right before Guernica. Early 1937 was a wild transition period for him. He was moving away from his explosive, distorted Surrealist phase of the early 30s and leaning into this weird, monumental biomorphic classicism.

The bathers look like heavy, stone-cold sculptures, yet the flat, graphic background makes the whole scene feel deeply unsettling. He actually used oil, conté crayon, and chalk here to give the bodies that crisp, sketched volume. What is striking to me is the cuteness of movements that these creatures give while they play with a boat and look at each other. They seem like big clumsy creatures that mean no harm, kind of a BFG vibe. The one in the back is kinda cutely peeking to see when he/she can interact with the other two, almost like a shy kid trying to make friends at the beach.

I also always have a sense of calm from this painting everytime, probably also because of the well balanced colours. I don’t know why but I have a lot of childlike emotions when I see it. It’s in venice Peggy Guggenheim collection for who has the chance.

This painting belongs to Xanti Schawinsky’s part of career in the U.S.A.,

During this period, he teaches at Black Mountain and at the same time works along Laszlo Moholy Nagy on camouflage for US army vestuary (interesting as camouflage is also a theme of investigation in his idea of theater). In addition he starts to experiment with the concept of composing faces with war machines, cannons and tanks - the series is called Faces of war and can be paralleled to Arcimboldo in the way the totality of face lineaments are rendered through the juxtaposition of different elements distinguishable on their own. (see the second picture for comparison).

In this period, which evolves around 1942, it is interesting to see this special work that Xanti Schawinsky produced: if one hand the Faces of war series has Arcimboldean traits, here the result is more political and has little in common - in terms of style - with the compositions of the series. The other faces of war as a matter of fact reflect more on the term of the machinery that originates this new kind of war, even more dehumanizing due to the new technologies of war \\\[Curzio Malaparte in his book Kaputt describes an interesting parallel between the “smells of the old war” (blood, carcasses and corpses) and the “smells of the new war” (steel, coal, metal ruins)\\\].

Even if this is a painting I think it still embodies the graphical qualities of Schawinsky in being a great communicator through his imagery: a clear political stance on the three ideological faces of the war, putting them all on the same level: Adolf Hitler, Josip Stalin and Benito Mussolini, all sharing the same grin above the swords of the war. Propaganda through visual language, through art.

The spiky, tentacle like forms in The Impossible III reach toward each other in a way that feels both intimate and hostile, like an embrace that can never quite happen. Martins once said, “It is nearly impossible to make people understand each other,” which feels especially fitting here. The two figures seem drawn to each other, but something about their very forms keeps them apart.

I am going to be an art teacher and while planning a modern art workshop I noticed a style that I always loved but never knew any specific artists for. Similar to Kara Walker or Jacob Lawrence, but it is less narrative, more geometric, colorful and always full of movement and music, specifically Jazz. Some works are gestural lines and flat colors and others are dynamic shapes and forms with movement. Most figures are exaggerated. Anyone know the names of the artists that created this style/movement? I wish more people would talk about this Jazzy style. Thanks!

Painted during the final years of Cézanne's life, Seated Woman in Blue reflects his lifelong pursuit of reducing nature to its essential forms. Rather than focusing on realism or emotion, he builds the figure through carefully arranged planes of color and geometric shapes, creating a sense of weight, balance, and structure. The compressed space and subtle brushstrokes reveal the ideas that would soon inspire Cubism, making this one of his most influential late works.

Sources:
The Art Institute of Chicago

Wikimedia Commons (Google Art Project, public domain)

Technically classified as Suprematism, which is a spiritual successor to Minimalism.

I purchased about 10 years ago this abstract art composition. Both panels are numbered “1 / 1” and dated 1986.
Can anybody help me to find out who the artist is? Signature is indecipherable, and the back has a sticker of a gallery that is inactive since 1985…
Thank you!