Tricolor 1959

Robert Motherwell made "Tricolor" with paint on a sheet, sometime in the mid to late 20th century. The colours are pretty muted – a kind of dirty, melancholic take on the patriotic red, white, and blue. The hand is so present, isn't it? You can really see the making. I love the way Motherwell lets the paint drip and pool, especially that central splodge of brown. It's almost like the painting is breathing, expanding and contracting with each gesture. There's something so physical about the way he attacks the surface, a kind of controlled chaos that I really admire. Look how he combines clean shapes with gestural painterly marks. It makes me think a little of Philip Guston, another painter who wasn't afraid to get messy and emotional. Both these artists, even when they are abstract, invite us to consider ideas of politics, identity, and the human condition. And like all great art, "Tricolor" asks more questions than it answers.