Untitled (Prescience Series) 1952

Perle Fine made this 'Untitled' painting with oils, probably sometime in the mid-twentieth century. The whole thing pulses with these warm, orangey hues that feel both comforting and kind of intense. It's like a sunset, but somehow contained, turned into this solid thing you can look at. Up close, you see how the paint sits on the canvas, thick in some spots, thin in others, almost like she was wrestling with it, figuring it out as she went. There's this one spot near the top, a little dab of blue peeking through the orange, that just pops. It's like a little window, a secret escape route in this otherwise pretty monolithic, but approachable, block of colour. I love how she lets the colors breathe into each other, not trying to be too precise, but just letting the painting happen. It reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, in that way of simplifying things down to their essence, but with an added layer of emotional oomph. It's like Fine's not just showing you a color, she's making you feel it.