Bild mit schwarzem Keil 1931

Carl Buchheister made this understated painting, “Bild mit schwarzem Keil”, with what looks like oil paint, and maybe some other stuff mixed in, like sand, to give it that rough texture. I can imagine Buchheister carefully building up this painting, letting the relationships between the white, the grays, and that confident black triangle emerge through layers of thought and feeling. The white paint looks buttery, and the way he’s built up the texture in that gray area makes me wanna reach out and touch it. It’s like he's inviting us into his own little world, with a visual puzzle that has no right or wrong answer. I'm really drawn to the black wedge. It’s like a dark thought intruding into a serene space. It reminds me a little of Malevich and the Suprematists, always playing with simple forms to express big ideas. Artists have always looked to each other for inspiration, riffing off ideas, and pushing boundaries. And, as viewers, we get to join in on that conversation too. It’s a reminder that art is never really finished, because it keeps changing as we look at it.