Composition 1966

Alexandre Istrati conjured this painting out of what looks like pure energy, a clash of reds, yellows, and blacks. It's a scrappy, bold assertion made with some slippery-looking paint! I imagine Istrati in his studio, wrestling with the canvas, maybe even shouting at it. It feels like he was searching for something just beyond his grasp. These strong yellow lines scattered across the surface. Are they a way of containing the chaos, like a building under construction? I can almost feel the push and pull of the brushstrokes, the artist’s hand moving in fits and starts. Istrati was part of the Romanian diaspora in Paris and was deeply influenced by his wife, Natalia Dumitresco. I can see his and her mark-making here, a kind of dialogue with the canvas. Like a conversation across time, as if he's riffing on something that's been in painting for decades. You can see artists constantly pushing each other to see the world in new ways, even from beyond the grave.