Quiet Landscape 1972

Mary Beth Edelson made this painting called *Quiet Landscape* and it's, well, quiet alright! The palette's muted, like it's holding its breath. I imagine Edelson layering these colors, one on top of the other. Maybe she started with that sky-blue circle, then the heavy clouds came in, pushing down, making the whole scene feel intimate and contained. And what is that pale, bulbous form in the middle? A rock? A cloud? It feels so present. I’m thinking about Agnes Martin and her airy grids, and how Edelson, like Martin, is after something beyond the surface. Each touch of paint, each layering of color, feels like a step towards understanding something about the world, about seeing. It's a generous act, this painting, inviting us to join in the quiet contemplation. Painting is a way of keeping the conversation going, across generations, across ways of seeing.