Le vent no 11 1960

René Duvillier made this painting, Le vent no 11, with blue pigment on canvas. I imagine he was thinking about landscape painting, perhaps the sea, while making this work. The painting’s surface has this kind of raw immediacy; you can see how the brushstrokes have swept across the canvas, one after the other. The marks almost feel as if they are about to blow right off of the canvas. I imagine it must have been exciting to have the idea of the wind as a starting point. There is something deeply philosophical about focusing on the wind - something we can't see, but know is there through its effects. The colour palette is restrained, a dark blue against a pale ground, which gives this feeling of lightness. The overall impression is one of great energy, but also calm, in that ineffable way that paintings often carry. Duvillier’s focus on the unseen relates to the work of other painters like Agnes Martin, who invite us to slow down, look closer, and feel our way into a painting. For both artists, their artwork becomes a conversation about how we experience feeling through the act of looking.