Paris #27 1957

Muriel Goodwin made this work, Paris #27, with ink on paper, and what strikes me first is the directness of it. It’s like one breath, one gesture. The ink is so dark, so absolute, against the pale paper. You can almost feel the movement of the brush. See how the ink pools in some areas, thick and opaque, and then thins out to these delicate, almost transparent strokes? It’s all about the physicality of the medium. The way the ink behaves, the way the brush moves, it all comes together in this one moment. And that little flick at the bottom? That's like the artist saying, "Okay, I'm done." It reminds me a little of Franz Kline, the way he used big, bold strokes of black paint. But there’s something more intimate, more personal, about Goodwin’s work, maybe because of the smaller scale. Anyway, it’s just one way of seeing, thinking, and feeling the world, and that’s what makes art so endlessly fascinating, right?