Boudoir Painting 1965

Gene Davis made this painting – Boudoir Painting – with acrylic on canvas. I can almost imagine him in his studio, methodically taping off these long vertical stripes, alternating warm and cool colors. This is a big painting, so I imagine the physical act of reaching across the canvas, the pressure of the brush, the smell of acrylic, maybe some jazz on the radio. What's so compelling about stripes is that they’re so simple and yet so powerful. The repetition creates a visual rhythm, but the subtle variations in color and width keep it from being too predictable. They are reminiscent of the work of other color field painters like Barnett Newman, who was also interested in the expressive potential of color and form. There’s something almost musical about the way these colors vibrate against each other – like a visual chord. Painting for me is like that, an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas, and Boudoir Painting is a wonderful invitation to participate in this dialogue.