Composition géométrique 1925

Otto Gustav Carlsund’s ‘Geometric Composition’ features blocks and stripes of colour, with some sinuous lines that almost seem to want to break free from the grid, like rebellious thoughts in a very organised mind. I imagine Carlsund in his studio, carefully mixing his colours, maybe even having to do it over again to achieve the particular flatness he was after. You can see him thinking hard about surface and form, about how to make a painting that feels both precise and playful. What does he see when he looks at his own work? That wiggle of red that runs from the top to the middle - it's like the unruly gesture in an otherwise orderly world. But then, the white roses offer an alternative, a gentler touch, a moment of unexpected softness. Carlsund, like many painters, was looking for a way to build a new visual language. He builds on what others have done before, transforming and tweaking as he goes. Each choice seems deliberate, a conversation with the history of painting and with his own place in it.