Relation 1966

Camille Graeser made this painting, *Relation*, with oil on canvas, and you can see how he's thinking about structure and clarity. Look at the way he lays down these colours: there's no blending or shading, but flat blocks of colour that create tension and balance. The surface texture is really interesting, because you can see the weave of the canvas coming through the layers of paint. The consistency looks fairly thin, so each colour sits on the surface. I'm drawn to the juxtaposition of the blue-green and red squares in the upper section of the painting. The cool blue-green feels calm and contemplative, while the red is much more vibrant and energetic. Thinking of Albers and his 'Homage to the Square' paintings, where colour interaction and perception are front and centre, Graeser seems interested in the same game. It’s not just about what colour is, but how colours speak to each other. There's no one right answer, just different ways of seeing.