Black Leafed Flowers 1972

Alexander Calder made 'Black Leafed Flowers' with paint, probably gouache on paper. It’s got these graphic, bold flowers in red and blue outlined in black, with stark black leaves and a meandering stem. I can almost feel him making it: the quick, decisive strokes, the way he lets the paint be itself, thick in some spots, thin in others. I wonder if he was thinking about Matisse when he made this? You know, that same joy in simple shapes and bright colors. That black outline - it’s so sure of itself, like he knew exactly where he was going, but then there are these little imperfections, tiny splatters of blue that give it life. It feels like Calder is showing us that it's okay to embrace the unexpected. It’s all just paint, but it feels like so much more, right? It’s a conversation across time, from one artist to another, reminding us that painting is never really finished, it just keeps going.