Undisciplined Emotion I 1959

Perle Fine created Undisciplined Emotion I using the traditional materials of paint on canvas, a world away from the industrial materials so many artists embraced. Here, vibrant shapes in blues, greens, reds and purples jostle against the red ground. The effect is both playful and unsettling. It's interesting to think of how this was made. Fine would have started with brushes and paint, and then used tape to create these hard-edged geometric forms. The process of building up layers of color and shape seems quite intuitive, reflecting a tension between order and freedom. Fine was working in an era when Abstract Expressionism was at its height, but she was also deeply engaged with the legacy of European modernism. The materials and processes she used were central to this conversation. By embracing both traditional and modern techniques, Fine blurred the boundaries between craft and fine art, creating a unique visual language that speaks to the complexity of human experience.