White Line #2 1968

Adolph Gottlieb made this oil painting, White Line #2, and you can see he’s working with very basic shapes. The way he applies the paint is so matter-of-fact, like he's not trying to hide anything. It's just, here's the color, here's the shape, done. I like how the top part feels kind of celestial, with these floating orbs in primary colors. Then, the bottom part feels more grounded, almost like a landscape. There's this white, kind of star shape, but it's not perfect, it's a little wonky, like it was drawn quickly, maybe with a big brush. The surface of the painting is pretty smooth, but you can still see the strokes, the direction he was moving. Gottlieb was part of that Abstract Expressionist generation, and I see echoes of his peer Joan Miró. Both of them were exploring this language of simple forms, like they were trying to get back to something primal in art. It’s like a visual language we all innately understand, even if we can’t quite name it.