Mist 1961

Adolph Gottlieb's "Mist" is a painting of oil on canvas, and it presents a really interesting take on simplification. The way Gottlieb laid down the paint feels immediate. It's like he's chasing after something that's just beyond his grasp, and maybe ours too. You can see the texture, the layering, the way the black bleeds out. It’s not just about the image, but about how the image came to be. Look at the lower form, that dark, almost explosive shape. It’s got these thin drips extending out, like fingers reaching for something. The paint is thick there, almost sculptural. Then, above, there’s that pale circle, more diffused, like a light source struggling to break through. There’s a tension there, between the solid and the ethereal. Gottlieb’s like a bridge between Rothko's color fields and, say, the gestural energy of Franz Kline. He's reminding us that painting is a conversation.