Enigma of the Night 1953

Conroy Maddox made this surreal landscape, "Enigma of the Night," with oil on board, and I can only imagine how it came into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. It's kind of fun to think of Maddox in his studio, wrestling with this dreamscape. What was he thinking as he painted that rearing horse and the grey cone shape? Was he trying to unlock some hidden meaning, or just letting his subconscious run wild? I feel for the artist, working intuitively, responding to the demands of the painting, with its contrasting shapes and stark palette. The surface, in particular, is quite matte and flat, which heightens the otherworldliness. There's a long history of artists borrowing from each other, isn't there? Maddox owes something to Magritte, who owes something to de Chirico, and it all goes back and back. Painting is a conversation across time, full of endless possibilities. It embraces ambiguity, and uncertainty and that leaves so much space for multiple interpretations.