Untitled (Posthumous Portrait of the Artist's Mother)

This powerful portrait was executed fairly early in the artist’s career when he was experimenting with contemporary trends. Colorful and vigorously painted, it reveals an interest in Rayonism, a Russian branch of Futurism characterized by parallel lines, or “rays,” which strove to visually express Albert Einstein’s new theories about the space-time continuum. Whatever problems divided the artist and his mother in life most certainly had not been laid to rest when Kantor made this painting. His use of an artistic theory that examines his mother’s existence in two different realms is therefore apropos. Notice how his more realistic treatment of the face—greening with decay—propels her visage forward into our space. In contrast, the flat, bold lines used for her body, fuse her with the background, in a different dimension.