Revelation 1979

Ronnie Landfield made this painting called Revelation, and look at the washes of colour, like watercolor but maybe acrylic, in yellow, orange, red, purple and green. I can imagine him working on this flat on the floor, pouring and layering paint, making decisions about the bands of colour, about how they sit next to each other and breathe. There’s a real sense of openness, like he’s trying to find something, or maybe let something emerge, through the act of painting itself. It’s a beautiful and maybe quiet painting. The colours are so clear, so defined, and yet they blend together too. He seems to be feeling his way through colour. You can see how the colours are reacting to one another. It reminds me of the paintings of Helen Frankenthaler, and other painters of that generation, who were also trying to find new ways of making paintings that felt expansive and free.