High Yellow 1960

This is "High Yellow" by Ellsworth Kelly, we don't know when exactly, but it's oil on canvas. And what gets me is the way he's letting the paint be itself. Look closely, and you can see these tiny imperfections, where the brushstrokes catch the light. The paint isn't trying to trick you into seeing anything but itself. The yellow, slightly off-kilter ellipse feels so free, and the blue and green feel like Kelly’s way of grounding something ecstatic. The whole thing is about a playful act of seeing! The surface has this wonderful kind of matte flatness, no glossy varnish to distract you. I'm reminded a little of the way Agnes Martin used to handle paint, so straightforward, but with an edge of mystery. It invites you to get lost in the pure sensation of color. It's like Kelly is saying, "Here it is, folks. What do you make of it?"