Blue and Deep Violet with Orange, Brown and Green 1970

Patrick Heron made this painting – Blue and Deep Violet with Orange, Brown and Green – with a screenprint. You know, it’s that flat, graphic look. It's got these soft-edged, biomorphic shapes kind of floating in a deep purple sea. I can imagine Heron, shuffling those forms around in his mind first, then in sketches, maybe even cutting them out of paper, arranging and re-arranging until they hit the right note. Color is the real protagonist here: the cobalt blue, the jolting orange, the earthy brown, and the pop of green, each shape is a distinct voice in a visual symphony. I think of Matisse's cut-outs or maybe even some of those groovy 60s posters, but Heron’s got his own thing going on. There's a playfulness, a lightness, but also a real attention to how colors vibrate against each other. He’s not just decorating; he’s creating a whole world of feeling with these simple shapes and hues. It's like he’s saying, “Hey, let’s see what happens when we put these colors together.” And that's what keeps painting alive, that ongoing conversation.