Komposition 1930

Adolf Hölzel made this pastel drawing, Komposition, and it feels like a moment of pure looking. The marks are smudgy, like he was really feeling his way around the space. Look at the way the pastel sits on the paper; it's thick in some places, thin in others, almost like breathing. The colors are so vibrant against that ground, a kind of peachy, chalky color. It feels like Hölzel is building up this composition one shape at a time, and the whole thing buzzes with energy. Check out that red shape near the top, with the yellow bits sticking out. Is it a flower, a flame, or just a burst of pure color? It doesn't matter, because it's the feeling that counts. This piece reminds me a little of Arthur Dove's work, that same search for abstraction. With this drawing it's like Hölzel's reminding us that art is always a process, an experiment, never a finished product.