Big Picture 1979 - 1980

Robert Moskowitz made this three-panel piece called "Big Picture" with paint on canvas. I can imagine Moskowitz in his studio, grappling with that massive surface. He must have felt like he was in a boxing match. What does the title mean? Is it a ‘big picture,’ like a grand, panoramic vision? Or is it a kind of wry commentary on the act of painting itself? Those silvery strokes on the left, like beams of light slicing through the darkness—they almost feel like an intrusion into the otherwise somber scene. I wonder if he was thinking about Malevich and the Suprematists, or maybe even Barnett Newman, with those vertical zips. It's like Moskowitz is saying: here’s my mark, my gesture, but it’s just one small part of this bigger conversation we’re all having. Each artist is in an ongoing exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity, questioning what painting is.