Canvas fragment c. 20th century

Curator: Looking at this fragment, this irregular little piece, a "Canvas fragment" by Barnett Newman, there's a strange intimacy. It's so…vulnerable. Editor: It’s just raw canvas, isn't it? The texture, the weave, that history of production—the mill, the loom, the cotton fields. Curator: But think about what it *could* have been. Newman, wrestling with the sublime, and this little piece didn't make the cut. A discarded idea. Editor: Or maybe it *was* part of the final work at some point. Consider the labor involved in preparing and priming canvas, stretching it, only to cut it up. Curator: I love the rawness of it. It feels like a secret whispered from the studio floor. Editor: It really shows how connected the artist is to his materials, every part of it. Curator: Yes, like a memento from the battlefield of creation. Editor: Exactly. It is good to think about every piece of the process.