Renoir's Curtain 1977

Gene Davis made *Renoir’s Curtain* with vertical stripes of subtle colours. What’s interesting is how the stripes are slightly wonky, imperfect, like someone drew them freehand with a ruler. I can imagine Davis painting it, carefully applying each stripe, maybe zoning out a little as he repeated the gesture again and again. The colours are so pale that they almost disappear, yet they make the painting sing. It’s as if he was trying to create a visual experience that was both calming and stimulating. I bet he was thinking about music, about rhythm and harmony. You can see a similar approach in the work of other painters like Agnes Martin or Barnett Newman. Ultimately, *Renoir's Curtain* is a reminder that painting is a conversation across time, with artists constantly building on each other's ideas, and that a painting embraces ambiguity. It offers you a space to think and feel, without needing to provide all the answers.