Les Goudes 1954

Maurice Esteve made 'Les Goudes' in 1954, using oil on canvas with a colour palette that feels both vibrant and subtly restrained. You can really sense how he's feeling his way through the process, adjusting as he goes. I am drawn to the way he orchestrates the surface, the paint isn't overworked, but there’s a real sense of layering, colours peeking out from beneath each other. Take for example the ochre forms towards the top, notice how the colours meet to create an illusion of depth, yet the brushstrokes remain so present. It's like he's both building and revealing at the same time. The shapes almost feel collaged, like he’s cutting into space with these planes of colour. Thinking about someone like Matisse, I think Esteve shares that same joy in the possibilities of colour and form. Both artists are masters of ambiguity. They are never quite pinned down by any single interpretation, but invite us to see the world in new and unexpected ways.