Window 1948

Wladyslaw Strzeminski created this painting, called Window, with oil on canvas. Look at the way the paint is applied, almost like mosaic tiles, a deliberate, methodical approach. The surface has a real presence, doesn’t it? Each color asserts itself – the strident yellows and blues and the bold reds. It’s almost as if the paint itself is the subject of the painting as much as the image it represents. Note that thick black line, like a window frame that is both there and not there, it divides and unites the composition. The texture is so palpable, you can almost feel the push and pull of the brushstrokes. Strzeminski, was a real innovator, he experimented a lot with the possibilities of painting. He reminds me a little of Juan Gris, a similar interest in reduction and simplification. But ultimately, this piece reminds me that art is a conversation across time, an ongoing exploration of what it means to see and feel.