Movement East to West 1956

Adolph Gottlieb’s painting, called "Movement East to West", is a visual poem of floating shapes and colors. I can almost feel Gottlieb moving the paint around, trying to find the right balance. I see a creamy expanse and then this crimson field below, where these black and white marks hover. Are they characters, or maybe a hidden message? And those floating orbs, those dark planets—or are they just big dots? I can imagine Gottlieb staring at the canvas, stepping back, maybe scratching his head, trying to figure out what these things mean, where they should go, and how they should relate. Looking at his work makes me think about other painters like Rothko or Newman. It feels like we’re all talking to each other across time, trying to figure out what this whole painting thing is all about. It’s more like a question than an answer, right?