Painting 1958

Ad Reinhardt made this painting with oil on canvas, and it's all about subtle color and form. I can imagine Reinhardt in his studio, layering these similar muted tones, trying to create this non-image, a painting about nothing. He might have wanted to create a work that was purely about the experience of seeing. He was always striving for a pure, non-objective form of painting. Look closely. See how the paint is applied thinly, almost like a stain, and the surface is flat. The texture is minimal, but there's a definite grid structure beneath the surface. Think of all the artists who have embraced such radical reduction, like Agnes Martin, whose work explores similar territory of subtle perception. These artists are in conversation across time. And it’s up to us to figure out what this conversation is all about. What do you see?