Composition 1923

Janos Mattis-Teutsch made this painting called "Composition" with what looks like oil paint, and a whole lotta' heart. The colors are boinging off each other, right? You can tell he's just feeling it out as he goes. Look at the way that crimson shape smashes up against the yellow one. Like a flower maybe, or an explosion? You get the sense of him pushing the paint around, not too fussy, but really intentional. The surfaces are kind of chalky, which makes those hot colors even hotter. I bet he was using a brush, but maybe also a palette knife, to get those cool hard edges. This reminds me of some early Kandinsky, or maybe even Hilma af Klint. Artists who weren't afraid to dive deep into the abstract, and trust where the paint takes them. It's like they're all having a conversation across time, a joyful, messy, colorful conversation.