Untitled (T1989-A3) 1989

Hans Hartung made this untitled painting with simple strokes of black paint against a white background. You can tell he didn’t labor over it. The image feels like a record of his movements and intentions. I imagine Hartung in his studio, armed with his brush and a pot of black paint, ready to make his mark—or rather, marks. You can feel the immediacy and directness of his gestures; each line seems to have been laid down with confidence and speed. It makes me wonder, was he listening to music as he worked? Was he trying to capture a fleeting thought or emotion? The thin black lines sometimes pool and drip. They suggest the artist was experimenting with the viscosity and flow of the paint. There is an energy that comes through. It feels like Hartung is in conversation with painters like Franz Kline, who were similarly interested in the expressive potential of the gestural mark. They ask, what can a painted line communicate?