Design from Proposed Portfolio 1935 - 1942

This anonymous design from a proposed portfolio is done in gouache or tempera, and it has this quality of folk art, immediate and pleasing. The color palette is limited to red, yellow, and blue, with some lovely ochre touches. It's like the artist went straight for the jugular! I love how the paint sits on the surface, each color distinct, with a sense of joyful application. Look at the way the colors bump up against one another. I'm drawn to the bluebird perched right at the top – a tiny, simplified form. It's just a few strokes of paint, but it totally makes the piece. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, who used a similar color palette in her early abstract paintings, although this is of course more figurative. Both artists share a bold simplicity. Art is, after all, an ongoing conversation. It's not about answers, but about seeing differently, asking questions, and keeping the dialogue alive.