Untitled 1940

Perle Fine made this untitled painting with oil paint, likely in her studio. I see broad strokes of blues, greens, yellows, and reds that feel almost architectural, like walls or windows. Imagine her, Perle, layering these colors, maybe stepping back, squinting, trying to balance the composition. Then comes the linework—dark, thin lines crisscrossing the canvas, connecting the shapes, creating a sense of movement. Look at that black circle on the right, like a bold signature. Did she add that at the end? I wonder if she was thinking about Mondrian, with the geometric shapes and primary colors, or maybe she was looking at the work of her contemporaries in the New York art scene, all those abstract expressionist painters. But she’s doing her own thing, creating a visual language that's uniquely hers. And those small details—like the little flicks of paint, the subtle variations in color—they're like whispers, secrets embedded in the surface.