No. 4 (From The Basque Suite) 1970

Robert Motherwell made this print, No. 4, as part of his Basque Suite. Looking at those bold black gestures over the warm oranges and greens, I imagine him in the print studio, pushing ink around with a squeegee, pulling these shapes into being. The image feels like a gut reaction to something, like how the poet Federico García Lorca responded to the world. Motherwell was interested in Lorca, so maybe he was conjuring something of the poet's spirit here. That central form is so intense, a dark, almost volcanic presence with its splatters and drips, as if it was created from the subconscious. There is an urgency in these broad strokes, reminiscent of what Franz Kline was doing. But Motherwell's touch is more lyrical, softened by the colour. What is the feeling and intention, one might ask? And in the end, isn't it about how all these painters converse across time, bouncing ideas off each other, finding new ways to express what it feels like to be alive.