Ideomorphic Composition #1 1942

Perle Fine made this painting, Ideomorphic Composition #1, using straight lines of colour, like the warp and weft of threads in a loom. I love that the work is an “ideomorphic composition;” sounds like an attempt to visualize and map the artist’s ideas. As a painter myself, I can relate. I often feel like I am literally building an idea in paint, through layers of trial, error, and intuition. I am struck by its strange palette of orange, red, and green. It feels like a kind of urban construction. I imagine Perle carefully considering how each line relates to the others. Are they parallel? Do they intersect? There is something so methodical about the way she constructed this space. The shapes seem to float above the surface like a blueprint for an imaginary city. Painting is a process of ongoing exchange. We painters have always been in conversation, building on each other's work across time and space. We take inspiration from the past, but we’re also constantly pushing boundaries, looking for new ways to express the complexities of being human.