The Garden in Sochi 1941

Arshile Gorky made this painting, The Garden in Sochi, and the colours are muted, like they’ve been aged by the sun. It is as if you are looking through a dusty window. The forms feel bodily, even though they are abstract. There's a sense of layering and pentimento, where you can see traces of earlier marks beneath the surface. I see some Surrealism in this – maybe Miró, or Masson - there's that biomorphic quality. But the palette is so different, more earthy, more sombre. Take that blue shape in the centre – a sort of lumpy kidney bean. Is it a landscape? Is it a figure? It's both, or neither. Gorky’s work reminds us that painting is a process of discovery, a conversation between the artist and the canvas. The painting is more about the journey than the destination.