Triangular Fugue V 1965

John Dowell made this print, Triangular Fugue V, with ink on paper. I can almost see Dowell’s hand moving across the page, a flurry of marks, some dark, some light, like a visual score being improvised. The color is restrained: a pinkish red against white, with the faintest touch of blue. These aren't the gestures of Abstract Expressionism, trying to 'express' something, they're more like notations. This print feels intimate, like looking at an artist's notebook, where ideas are just starting to take shape. The triangle is there but it's not literal. I love how the marks seem to float and dance, connected by invisible lines of thought. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, who also made marks that were both simple and profound. Artists inspire each other like that, across time. Paintings aren’t about answers; they’re about questions. They offer us ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling that are open-ended and always evolving.