Horizontal Stripe Painting: November 1957 - January 1958 1958

Editor: Here we have Patrick Heron’s "Horizontal Stripe Painting: November 1957 - January 1958," an oil painting from 1958. It’s incredibly striking; the colors almost seem to vibrate. What exactly am I looking at here? What’s its intention? Curator: Intention… now that's the artist's little secret, isn't it? But I see a dialogue between chaos and order, wouldn’t you say? These vibrant hues slapped on in layers are definitely not playing by the rules. Look closer—those "perfect" horizontal stripes? Totally imperfect, wobbly even. Does that intentional messiness suggest anything to you? Editor: Hmm, the imperfections…it almost feels like he's rebelling against rigid structure. I get the vibe that even abstraction can be playful. Curator: Exactly! Heron was deep into color field painting, which meant liberating colour from form, right? Like letting notes in a symphony swirl together, blurring those hard lines between orange and red, or purple and grey… Editor: So it's like he’s saying, "Let’s get rid of the stuffiness in art?" Curator: Precisely! He once said something like "Colour is both the subject and the means." Imagine that! No need for heroes or narratives—just pure chromatic emotion, splashed across a canvas. But it’s interesting that he still goes for these horizon-defining stripes. I always consider what kind of mood I'm in to 'read' the painting, sometimes even inventing stories about them, what they mean, etcetera. Editor: Colour as the subject itself, that makes me appreciate it more, actually. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. Next time you see it, close your eyes slightly and you might just find it speaking to you of simpler days… and wilder colours, of course.