Silent Seasons - Summer 1970

Will Barnet made "Silent Seasons - Summer" using a muted palette and simplified forms. It’s like he’s trying to capture a feeling more than a scene. The paint application is so smooth; you can hardly see any brushstrokes. Everything is flattened out, which gives the painting a calm, almost dreamy quality. There's this quiet tension in the scene, like the moment right before something happens. I find myself drawn to the bubble. It’s so perfectly round and luminous. It almost feels like a little world, fragile and fleeting. Barnet's way of simplifying shapes reminds me of Milton Avery, another painter who knew how to do a lot with a little. Both artists show us that painting isn't just about what you see, but how you see it.