Untitled 1960

Morris Louis made this untitled painting with acrylic on canvas sometime before 1962. The way the colors melt and merge into each other—it’s a process in itself, a conversation between colors. The surface is so raw, almost like the canvas is breathing. Look at how the colors bleed into each other; it’s like they’re having a conversation, a dance. The paint is so thin it’s almost like watercolor, staining the canvas. Take that one long stroke of deep red on the left, for example. It doesn't sit on the surface; it's part of it. It’s like a vein, pulsating with life, feeding the rest of the painting. Louis reminds me a bit of Helen Frankenthaler, both playing with color and stain, but where she feels airy, Louis feels more grounded, more… human? It’s a reminder that art doesn’t need to shout. Sometimes, it just needs to whisper.