Seneca 1979

Albert Irvin made *Seneca* with big, bold strokes of thick paint and a warm, earthy palette. I imagine Irvin in his studio, maybe with music playing, moving with purpose, but also letting the painting guide him. The painting is built from stripes of color—reds, oranges, greens—laid down with real oomph. See how each brushstroke has its own texture and energy? It’s like he’s not just applying paint, but also applying feeling. There is a dialogue happening, with the artist responding to the emerging forms. The way the colors interact is kind of jarring, and I wonder if Irvin was thinking about color theory, or if he was just playing. Painters are always in conversation with each other. Irvin is part of this ongoing exchange of ideas, each artist building on what came before, and I think the best paintings leave room for ambiguity, encouraging us to bring our own interpretations to the canvas.