Boudoir Painting 1965

Gene Davis made this large painting, called "Boudoir Painting," and you can see how the process is right there on the canvas. The stripes are soft, not too crisp. There's a chalky quality to the colors, and some variation in the paint application. I can see the material in the way the colors sit on the canvas, not quite covering the weave. Look at how he varies the width of each stripe! The colors are doing a weird dance, jumping from orange to pink to brown like there is no rule book. It’s interesting to me how these vertical stripes can become almost figurative, like bodies standing in a room, and how the boudoir setting might be a prompt for considering a range of emotional states from quiet reflection to vibrant energy. For me, this piece brings Agnes Martin to mind, another painter who embraced the grid, but also had a real looseness and an eye for material. Ultimately, the painting opens a space for us to think about color, repetition, and the simple joy of seeing.